Protective products in the age of the virus

The ease with which coronavirus spreads is a big confession in workplaces such as warehouses that employ many people. Find out what preventive measures and protective products will help you to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infections among your employees.

Personal hygiene products reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19

According to Article 207 § 2 of the Labour Code, “the employer is obliged to protect the health and life of employees by ensuring safe and hygienic working conditions with appropriate use of the achievements of science and technology”. In the era of the coronavirus pandemic, this provision, clarified by government decrees, is worth taking even more seriously.

Your employees should not only be given clear guidelines on how to keep themselves and others safe, but also be provided with appropriate personal hygiene measures. To reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19, it is advisable to extend them with disposable gloves and disposable protective masks. It is also a good idea for employees to have constant and convenient access to hand disinfectants (for coronavirus, those containing a minimum of 60% ethyl or isopropyl alcohol are most effective).

Coronavirus pandemic – how to take extra care of hygiene in the warehouse?

The current situation also necessitates increased attention to workplace hygiene on the part of the employer, which means additional investment in industrial cleaning products and cleaning crews. By putting the right procedures in place and using the right protective products, you can reduce the chance of coronavirus transmission across different surfaces at little cost.

In particular, it is worth increasing the frequency of cleaning and disinfecting areas that are frequently touched (e.g. doorknobs and handrails) and those that are frequented by many people (such as toilets, cloakrooms and canteens). Also pay attention to the tools and equipment used at work in the warehouse, for example mobile terminals. If they are used by different employees, they should be disinfected before being handed over to the next person.

COVID-19 and work organisation in the warehouse

To minimise the risk of contracting COVID-19, whenever possible, workers should maintain a distance of 2 metres from other people. In areas of frequent contact where this is possible, it is advisable to place marking tapes. Where this distance is not possible, but the nature of the work permits, Plexiglas covers and partitions can be used. Finally, internet and telephones can also be used more extensively instead of having larger staff meetings.

In times of coronavirus, other changes to work organisation are also worth considering. In offices, this will be setting up tables so that employees are not sitting face to face. For most employees, however, changes related to the order picking model will be more important. Such solutions are more costly, but still more cost-effective than the organisational complications that COVID-19 can bring to workers.

An example of an order picking method that reduces contact between employees is so-called zone picking. It is based on dividing the warehouse into small zones, for which one employee is responsible. The exact size of these areas depends, in this case, on the turnover rate of the products in them. The smaller the turnover rate, the larger the area should be.