Tips for Reopening Your Kitchen & Bath Remodel Business

As states around the nation are setting timelines to restart life and reopen economies, businesses are now contemplating what these orders will mean for their operations. It’s becoming a new challenge to bring back the employees and maintain their safety as well.

Different states will have different safety guidelines, so the businesses will have to stay updated on those guidelines to abide by the law. However, how dramatic the effect of the virus will be on the businesses depends on the nature of the work involved and the location of the business.

Many organizations that are able to work online can manage their employees remotely but the other businesses that involve social interaction are still in flux.

As you know, in the kitchen and bath remodeling industry, you have to interact with the clients, visit their homes, and complete your projects there. It involves a lot of social interaction and exposure. So, this made us ponder on how to reopen a kitchen and bath remodel business after the quarantine period is over.

After much reflection, speaking with clients and other professionals, we have come up with some useful tips on how you can restart your kitchen and bath remodeling business. Here they are:

4 Ways to Restart Your Kitchen and Bath Remodel Business

1. Maintain Engineering Controls

Engineering controls include the practices where you isolate your employees from work-related hazards. These types of controls do not rely on the worker’s behavior and use cost-effective solutions to reduce exposure to hazards.
 
Here are some engineering controls you can implement in your companies for COVID-19:
 

• Increase the ventilation rate in the work environment.
• Install air-filters having the capacity to work with high-efficiency
• Introduce physical barriers to minimize contact by using plastic sneeze guards.

 
2. Practice Administrative Controls

Administrative controls are the ones that require prompt action by an employer or an administrator. These controls refer to some changes in the work procedures or policies to reduce exposure.
 
Some of the examples of administrative controls include:
 

• Check your employee’s temperature daily if possible, to make sure they are not showing signs of illness.
• Ask your employee’s that are sick to work from home and devise a policy to treat all your employees fairly in this case.
• Replace face-to-face meetings with virtual meetings to reduce contact among your staff.
• Setup extra shifts or alternating days to reduce the total number of people under one roof at a given time. This will allow your staff to maintain distance while doing full-time onsite work.
• Use office corridors for one-way traffic only.
• Stop unnecessary travel to different locations for promoting your business.
• Provide employees with up-to-date information about the COVID-19 situation and risk factors. Post safety guidelines around the office in clear eyesight, and email any new information as soon as possible.

 
3. Follow Safe Work Practices

In this area of practice, employees are equally involved in maintaining a healthy and safe work environment.
 
Here’s what employees and employers can do to maintain hygiene in their offices:
 

• Never forget to wear masks while working.
• Strictly practice ‘No hug, no handshake’ precaution in the office.
• Wash hands frequently for 20-30 seconds.
• Cover your mouth and nose with an elbow when coughing or sneezing.
• Dispose of all the used tissues immediately.
• Maintain a social distance your co-workers (check the latest guidelines from your specific state).
• Don’t touch your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands.
• Keep your desks or workspaces clean.
• Avoid touching your worker’s accessories like mobile, pens, or other tools.

 
4. Reschedule Appointments with Medically Serious Clients

Hold all client meetings by video conference that can be done that way and if in person meetings are necessary install hand sanitizer at the door for the clients who visit your office. Make sure to maintain safe distance from all clients and encourage them to wear mask when visiting your office. Consider doing some E-design with clients that prefer video conferencing meetings.
 
If you have clients with a compromised immune system and serious medical conditions, send emails to them requesting to reschedule the appointments. Avoid visiting or meeting clients that show signs of cold or fever. Instead, talk to them by video conference or on the phone and ask them to delay their project for a while for the safety of your employees. This will slow down your business process for a few weeks but it’s always better to be safe than sorry.