In order to revive the economy after the period of confinement that we experienced, the State is recommending that businesses resume their activities.
The resumption of business activity represents a major challenge. Indeed, the French state wants at all costs to avoid the collapse of the economy while guaranteeing the protection of workers .
In order to restart business activity, the Ministry of Labor has published a “National deconfinement protocol for businesses to ensure the safety and health of employees”. This protocol presents the mandatory requirements and measures to be put in place to deal with this crisis.
This article provides general tips for protecting your employees. However, certain activities require specific protections; for these, go to the Ministry of Labor website to find out more.
Deconfinement: personal protective equipment (PPE)
The Ministry of Labor insists that personal protective equipment is complementary to social distancing . We must therefore focus on organizing the premises by trying to isolate workstations (plexiglass separation, individualization and distancing of workstations, etc.) but also equipping employees with individual protection. However, providing hydroalcoholic gel and wearing a mask and gloves (or any other sanitary equipment) does not replace the rule of one meter separating two people.
Depending on the profession, the management of the company is obliged to provide the necessary equipment. Thus, wearing a mask becomes strictly obligatory when sufficient physical distancing is not possible. Depending on the sector of activity, the use of disposable protective gloves is recommended, in order to reduce the risks in the event of occasional physical contact (exchanging money in a store for example).
It is also recommended to wear single-use work clothes or wash them as regularly as possible, ideally at the end of each day.
Find the list of mandatory and recommended personal protective equipment on the Ministry of Labor website .
Regular disinfection and management of human flows
Ban on imposing screening on its employees, minimum 4m² per person, regular disinfection, implementation of a circulation plan within the premises… The list of obligations and recommendations from the Ministry of Labor is intended to be as exhaustive as possible .
Businesses are strongly encouraged to clean and disinfect their premises as regularly as possible , ideally once a day. Management of human flows is also imperative in order to respect barrier gestures and in particuar the social distancing meter.
For businesses and companies that frequently welcome customers, suppliers and business partners, setting up such a system risks being quite cumbersome. For example, it will be necessary to avoid any peaks in traffic linked to peak hours and therefore optimize traffic by spreading it over a maximum of time and distance .
This social distancing meter requirement represents a mandatory surface area of 4m² per person. Any surface area dedicated to welcoming people is therefore virtually divided by 4, by adding the space already occupied by the furniture.
In the example given by the ministry, a cluttered, 40% furnished 110m² bookseller will only accommodate 15 people ((110m² – 44m²) / 4 = 16.5).
This management of human flows will inevitably affect businesses that depend on traffic but also on rush hours.
This will particularly impact restaurants, bakeries, hair salons and any other type of local business which will be unable or very difficult to resume their activity. For example, it will be very difficult to calculate your figures when you are unable to fill your room at meal time…
Contact professions, those closest to customers, are among the professions which will probably have the most difficulty returning to normal activity.
Furthermore, the rules for deconfinement will be flexible depending on the place of domiciliation of the company. The government has published a map assigning a color (green or red) to the different regions. He will thus be able to differentiate the rules according to local needs.
