How To Prepare and Plan For Winter at The Office
December is here and the cold weather has already begun leaving frost on cars and pavements. Although this means there are leaves on the ground and the holidays are just around the corner, it comes with adverse weather including snow and significant temperature drops. This means your office will need extra cleaning and protective measures put in place to keep your employees healthy. Throughout this article, we’ll tell you how to prepare the office for the coming Plan For Winter.
Power Cut Planning
Adverse weather increases the likelihood of power cuts, which can leave your business inoperable and your office plunged into darkness and freezing temperatures. You need to plan for power cuts by having an emergency plan in place to detail protocols.
If your emergency power fails you should prepare gear including flashlights and first aid kits – just in case. Additionally, you need to ensure you’re ready to deal with technology going offline, including computers and heating systems. If you live in an area prone to power cuts, look at generator hire over the winter, which will keep your business ticking over.
Get Door Mats
Winter weather means wet ground and muddy shoes, which will be traipsed into your office if you’re not careful. Invest in high-quality door mats with hard bristles to scrape mud off the bottom of shoes, which will make cleaning your corridors a much easier task.
You need to remember health and safety in the workplace, so make sure the door mat is secured properly to avoid creating a slip hazard. Additionally, when it’s wet aside, place a wet floor sign in the doorway to remind people to tread carefully. The last thing you want is a lawsuit on your hands because you failed to put appropriate safety measures in place.
Clean Walkways
When temperatures reach 0℃, there’s going to be ice on the ground and snow is much more likely. Both of these elements can make the walk to your office unpleasant, which may deter customers and lead to injuries. Be prepared for this Plan For Winter by investing in a snow shovel, grit, and ice melt. If you can make the approach to your business clean, you’ll have less mud being traipsed through the office.
Deep Clean Carpets and Upholstery
The allergen count is high in the summer, which means plenty of dust and pollen may have latched onto various surfaces. To avoid unnecessary sneezing fits through the winter, now is the time to get cleaning. Use a steam cleaner on carpets and any other upholstery, as this will help to purify the air. If you don’t have a steamer, consider hiring a team of professional cleaners to get your office in sparkling form for the start of winter.
Heating Maintenance
You’ll be using your heater a lot during the winter, especially as your employees need appropriate temperatures to work productively. Before temperatures plummet further, carry out heating maintenance. Additionally, you can book an annual service at the beginning of winter, which ticks off two.
Unfortunately, despite regular maintenance, your heating may need to be shut off for repairs. If this happens, you still need to keep your office warm to avoid sending your team home. Fortunately, you can use portable heaters, such as infrared heaters. Look at heater hire for your options. Using space heaters will keep productivity high while your heating system is being repaired.
Clean The Windows
Natural light is important for our mental health, even in the winter. However, if your windows are filthy it will struggle to get in. Even if your windows don’t look dirty, take a cloth and run it across the surface – you’ll be surprised. Hiring a regular window cleaner is the best way to make sure your office windows carry on letting the sunlight in.
Sealing Doors and Windows
Cracks form around windows and doors over time, but this pierces a hole in the “envelope” and lets the cold in. Invest in a couple of sealant tubes and get to work caulking the cracks, which will help to reduce your monthly bills and keep the office warm.
Clean Wood Floors
Wood floors are relatively cheap and can look great but they’re easily damaged when wet, which will happen a lot during the Plan For Winter. When it’s been raining, icy, or snowy outside, be sure to clean up puddles as soon as they appear. To help you out with this, refer to the point above about investing in door mats.
Dirt and grit from walkways and car parks can easily scratch your wooden floor, which will tarnish an otherwise great first impression. To avoid shallow scratches and scrapes becoming problematic, you should wax wooden floors regularly during the winter. You don’t need to spend a fortune on wax because you can easily spot-treat any scratches.
Have a Backup Plan
You can do everything in your power to avoid downtime in the winter, but nothing is 100% proof. If the office becomes off-limits during the winter, you need to have a backup plan. For example, you can transition into a remote workplace temporarily. To make sure you’re ready for the change, ensure you’ve got plenty of hardware including laptops and headsets. Additionally, you should back up all data to cloud storage, meaning it can be accessed from anywhere.
Sanitiser and PPE
The full force of the Covid-19 pandemic is behind us now, but that doesn’t mean it’s a dormant illness. During the winter months, germs spread like wildfire. Prepare your office by having plenty of hand sanitisers available. Additionally, you can invest in PPE including face masks, which will help show the public that your business cares about the safety of its community.
Take Away
Winter is a great time of year because it brings plenty of festivities, but it can be a misery when you’ve got to manage the impact of adverse weather at the office. Make sure you’re not caught off guard. Put a plan in place so your whole team is on the same page.
