The Importance of COVID Safety in the Food Industry and any food business like restaurants, bars, cafes, etc.
With the rollout of the various COVID-19 vaccines in the US, the whole country has taken a sigh of relief as the end of the pandemic becomes conceivable.
While the pressure has somewhat relieved, the pandemic is indeed not over. Because of this, being vigilant about health practices in the workplace is still as important as ever, especially in businesses that serve food and drink. Since masks are not worn while eating, restaurants can be a hot spot for the spread of COVID-19. Below are procedures and protocols recommended by the CDC for COVID safety in bar and restaurant settings.
Covid Safety in the Food Industry
Signage
Adequate signage is an important step to making sure your establishment is encouraging social distancing practices. Signs should be in obvious locations to both employees and the public. Important reminders at this time may be to frequently wash your hands, wear a mask, or practice social distancing.
Signage may also include added pages to a website to notify customers of the health practices that are in place.
Supplies
An essential aspect of maintaining COVID safety is providing sufficient resources and supplies for people to keep themselves healthy. This may include having many hand sanitizer dispensers around the establishment or providing small anti-bacterial or alcohol wipes to patrons as they enter. Not only do these things help keep the workplace safe, but they help customers feel more comfortable.
Hygiene
Hygiene is always an important step for anyone’s health but is crucial when handling food in a restaurant. Proper hygiene includes washing hands frequently or at least 20 seconds, disinfecting surfaces often, coughing and sneezing into your sleeve, and using hand sanitizer when soap and water are unavailable.
Social Distancing
A practical and straightforward way to ensure COVID safety is by requiring the use of masks for employees and customers. This is more difficult to do as masks cannot be worn while consuming food or drink; however, their use is still encouraged when possible.
In addition to masks, proper social distancing helps decrease transmission rates of COVID-19. Ways to implement social distancing can include putting stickers on the floor to encourage standing 6 ft apart or closing off specific tables to allow for greater space between parties. You may also limit the number of people in the dining room at a particular time.
Health Check-Ins
Use Cocolevio’s premier return-to-work application Cert19 to check in with the health and well-being of your employees. Features like Health Sense Reminders, Questionnaires, and Survey Modules provide employers with an inside view of how their employees are doing physically and mentally. Through the app, employees can apply to stay home when they are sick or anonymously report violations of their policy or health protocols.
How Cert19 Keeps Your Restaurant Safe
We created Cert19 return-to-work software to help employees and customers feel safe and comfortable when returning to the office or any other place of business. This product has many features to ensure COVID safety. Implementing a service such as Cert19 can protect you from lawsuits.
Features of Cert19
- Occupancy management: Monitor the number of employees and customers permitted in a space at any time.
- Temperature Checks: Keep track of temperature readings for employees & customers; flag anomalies and potential threats.
- Survey Module: Send personalized surveys to staff via email to receive feedback on how your employees are doing.
- Questionnaires: Daily questionnaires collect critical health and wellness information and detect ill persons.
- Health Sense Reminders: Remind employees to practice health protocol through periodic daily health sense notifications.
- Feedback Whistle: Allow employees to report policy or safety violations anonymously.
Covid safety in the food industry has increased concern globally. This has led to more regulations and testing requirements by governments.
