In today’s world, health and safety are at the top of everyone’s minds. Whether you’re ready or not, it’s a different world, with vastly different operation requirements than existed before. The problem is, keeping track of these codes can be difficult, even for large retailers with plenty of resources. To help make this transition a little easier, here are a few ways that retailers can keep up with health department requirements.
Know Your Limits
One of the most striking restrictions that you’re likely to face are capacity limits based on the size of your facility. In order to comply with these limits, you’ll need to be prepared with facility measurements and any pre-determined capacity limits that were in place before the pandemic. By having this information ready, you’ll be able to begin preparations for operating at a lower capacity so that you can ensure your customers have a great experience.
Keep it Clean
Another important aspect of health department requirements is keeping your facility clean and sanitized as best as possible. In order to complete this task, though, your facility needs to be easy to clean. This means including materials such as cleanable ceiling tiles, glass countertops, and solid surfaces throughout your facility so that you can quickly and easily wipe away germs. You’ll also want to stock up on cleaning supplies so that you don’t run out of supplies if they run short in stores.
Offer Masks
A great way to help prevent the spread of germs among your customers is to ensure that everyone is wearing a mask. Inevitably, though, there will be some customers who forget their masks at home but still want to shop. To avoid losing their business, you can keep a supply of masks that you can give to your customers for free or provide at a nominal fee. This will help keep your operations smooth and ensure everyone in your store stays healthy.
Experiment with Hours
It’s important to make it as easy as possible for your employees to aid your business in complying with all the health department restrictions. To assist with this, it’s a good idea to experiment with different store hours to strike a balance between customer convenience and adequate cleaning and organizing time. You can use your social media channels to announce any changes in your store’s hours so that no one ends up getting left out.
Ask for Help
Since everyone is learning how to work in this new world, it’s okay if you don’t understand everything right away. What is important, though, is that you ask for help when you don’t understand how to comply with a regulation or how a certain regulation applies to your business. By taking advantage of the resources that are available to you, you’ll be able to navigate these stormy seas with your sails and sanity intact.
