As part of a safe restaurant reopening, your staff must be provided with proper personal protective equipment. At Metro, we have worked tirelessly to create solutions that make PPE accessible to your entire team and even your patrons. Here our storage experts will breakdown what PPE is needed in both your kitchen and your front-of-house based on the recommendations from the CDC.
It is also essential to follow all necessary OSHA guidelines, one of which states that employers should supply all critical PPE employees. One of the challenges in adding PPE to everyday operations is appropriately storing and distributing it to staff.
Our experts will also outline how to properly organize products and safely distribute PPE to staff with minimal contact.
Tip # 1
Create a specific station solely for PPE. By creating a check-in station, you can ensure that each staff member is checked before work. Check-in areas can be customized with bins, glove holders, and sanitizer holders. These places are also great points to get temperatures checked before the start of a shift.
Carts can be customized based on the overall size of your staff.
For customers, consider sanitizing stations. Sanitizing stations can be created with the use of a sanitizer stand and an industrial bottle of sanitizer. It may not seem like much, but this little addition will be highly appreciated by your staff.
Tip # 2
Create multiple points of sanitation. Having just one point of PPE and sanitation may not be enough for your facility. All employee places where employees enter the building should have their own PPE. Having additional PPE at points of contact is also highly beneficial.
As staff interacts, it is essential to provide them with additional gloves and masks to replace throughout their workday. These points of contact are also ideal for sanitizer stands for use by staff and patrons.
Another area to consider additional PPE and sanitizer stands would be high-traffic areas of your facility. Places with a higher amount of traffic require special care.
Also, restrooms should have PPE stations ready outside for immediate replacement of gloves and other safeguards.
Tip # 3
Offer multiple options. Some traditional PPE may be challenging to wear in areas like the kitchen. Traditional PPE like face shields can fog up above heat, creating vision issues and making the kitchen environment more dangerous. However, the traditional blue PPE disposable masks can be costly when you need to provide them every day.
Instead, consider investing in some reusable masks for employees while on the job. These masks can even be personalized with logos and company colors to create a uniform look across staff.
Tip # 4
Utilize what you have. If your facility doesn’t have space or resources to create full designated points for PPE accessories can be added to existing products for an organized storage solution. Accessories like glovebox holders and wire sanitizer holders can be added to regular wire shelving units for an efficient PPE access area.