The Role of a Facility Manager during the Covid-19 Outbreak
The corona virus outbreak has brought millions of lives and economies across the world to a complete standstill. The pandemic has affected our daily lives and the way we work. Businesses are suffering all around and organizations are facing a new challenge. In this scenario, it is crucial that organizations respond to the disruption and mitigate the risks that have taken its toll on business operations and more importantly, the workforce.
Keeping the above-mentioned consideration of mitigating risks in mind, the most essential tool that facility management professionals have is the access to accurate data related to facilities and equipment. This will assist in preparing for workplace challenges and emergency response efforts.
Facility managers have a very important role to play during this outbreak as they are in charge of buildings and organizations. The responsibility of the people and implementation of the correct prevention and containment strategies is on facility managers. A pandemic like Covid-19 is one of the best emergency situations to demonstrate how well as a facility manager you are equipped to deal with emergencies. The most basic yet important steps to follow in preparing facilities and workforce are listed below, let us take a quick look:
· Reduce concentration of people at one place. No matter even if the economy re-opens and businesses strive to get back to normal, as a facility manager, you need to remember that social distancing will still be an important protocol to contain the spread of the virus. Maintaining a distance of six feet and reducing the occupancy at the common areas of the facility are important steps. For commercial properties, temporarily closing down the common areas like fitness rooms, conference rooms, cafeteria, etc., would help you prevent concentration of people at one place. Making it a mandate to allow elevators operate at limited capacity and allowing limited seating in cabs during employee pick up and drop will help you maintain social distancing among people.
· Cleaning and disinfecting the entire facility regularly will greatly help in stopping the virus from spreading. The WHO and CDC have laid out in their official websites that it is absolutely necessary to use disinfectants in public places in order to curb the spread of the virus. High touch surfaces, individual workstations, restrooms, stairway rails, elevators, reception areas, all should be cleaned and disinfected thoroughly at regular intervals. It is a facility manager, who should be absolutely vigilant in times of emergencies and Covid-19 is the best example of an emergency situation.
· Avoid traveling. As a facility manager, the most important area that you need to manage is yourself. Yes! You read it right! You need to ensure that while trying to keep the workforce and your people safe, you need to take proper preventive measures for yourself as well. As a facility manager, if you are managing more than one facility outside your location, you might need to travel. Before, you travel, make sure you check the current status of the virus spread in the area that you plan to travel to. Also, countries across the world are under lockdown and stay at home orders are issued by governments all across. Before you step out, ensure that you have followed the mandate of the local government of that place. In case the rate of infection is higher in the area that you wish to travel, you need curtail your travel plan till the situation gets better.
· Now when travel restrictions are imposed, the question is as a facility manager, how will you manager facilities spread over countries or even worse, continents? The solution is simple, you can do it with the help of a facility management app. These apps are mobile friendly and can share all the critical information related to your facility under one single platform. Whether you manage one single facility, or are in charge of managing multiple facilities, your job gets easier now with the help of a facility management solution. With just the tap of a button on your mobile phone or tablet, you will be able to access your floor plan, equipment, shut-offs, As-Builts and many more. Most of these apps use artificial intelligence and machine learning in order to extract building information from drawings. With the help of interactive maps and equipment tagging feature, you can now locate emergency equipment, entrance and exit points, share work orders and do a lot more. This way, you can remotely manage your property and protect yourself from having the risk of contacting the virus by travelling.
It is true that with experience facility managers are better equipped to deal with emergencies but when experience is combined with technology, then the outcome is extraordinary. Therefore, if you are a facility manager, looking for the best ways to deal with the Covid-19 outbreak, download a facility management app and get access to all the critical information you need about your facility to prevent the virus from spreading.