CAPE TOWN- As the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions ease up to allow for more South African businesses to reopen to the public, there are strict hygiene and safety protocols that need to be in place before getting back to business.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced last week that several sectors previously considered dangerous, such as hairdressers, barbers, nail bars, beauty parlours, tattoo and body piercings businesses would be allowed to reopen.
Details for the reopening of restaurants for sit down meals, accredited and licensed accommodation, casinos and cinemas will be released within the week.
Co-owner of Isizwe signage and Isizwe Medical Supplies, Janet Dalton, said they opened a secondary business to their signage firm when the need arose for medical and hygiene supplies.
“We realised we were able to diversify with our raw material, so instead of acrylic signage we could make acrylic screen shields, desk screens, face shields, floor decals and information boards,” she said.
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is used to keep others and yourself safe from the spread of Covid-19. Transmission of the virus can occur via small respiratory droplets from an infected person, usually from sneezing, coughing, and even talking.
“When we wear a mask or have a face shield on, this prevents the spread of the droplets. We manufacture desk screen shields which are very important for retailers and office areas where we find a lot of people,” said Dalton.
Here are some of the hygiene and safety protocols that businesses need to adhere to:
Before reopening, Dalton recommends a fogging and sanitising of the entire building, whether it is a school, restaurant, salon, church or office.
For salons there has to be sanitizers, full body desk screens, those washing hair need to wear face shields and plastic aprons. All patrons need to be wearing masks upon entry.
A sanitising unit should be placed at the entrance for staff and visitors and at every workstation. At least one bottle of sanitiser should be available for staff to use at random.
There should be an information board indicating “no mask no entry” at reception.
Every staff member should be wearing a mask (either a disposable or a material mask).
A thermometer and registration documents should be at the reception or entrance to ensure temperatures are not high as this would indicate a sign of infection.
Where required, some businesses may need to use distancing decals on the floors where people wait in queues.
Workstations need to be at least 1.5 metres apart, they must have partitions between them.
[gallery columns="2" size="full" link="file" ids="4941,4943,4944,4945,4942,4940"]
https://www.facebook.com/isizwesignage/videos/558884364814873/
For more information, see the Isizwe Medical catalogue.
For LIVE updates on the Coronavirus pandemic, follow us on Twitter :
@sacoronamonitor