Corona Health & Safety
Communication and Guidelines
We have previously communicated that Interoffices has continued to deliver all services as usual and all offices have been and are still accessible 24/24.
The measures taken on March 18th, 2020 by the Belgian Government will be changed per May 4th and aim to relaunch the economy in different phases, depending on the type of business activity.
During the last weeks, Interoffices staff have been working on an extensive set of measures to guarantee the health, the safety and the wellbeing of all our clients and their employees. These measures concern both behavioural guidelines and investments in physical changes to the workspace.
It is of the utmost importance that this information is distributed to all employees, as we are asking everyone respectfully to comply 100% with the guidelines.
Dirk Paelinck, CEO
Important actions that we took
Climate control modifications (higher humidity)
Floor markings for steering traffic and securing a 1.5m distance
Temperature control at the entrance of the workspaces
All visitors need to be registered before entry
Our Measures in short
Creating a Safe Zone
- Temperature control at the entrance of the workspaces
- Digital totems with prevention measures, Covid-19 news and the names of the companies on each floor
- Plexi glass to reinforce the workspace safe zones in the coworking zones and communal spaces such as coffee corners
- Floor markings for steering traffic and securing a 1.5 m distance
- Automated dispensers with disinfectant gel at the entrance of the workspace
- Climate control modifications (higher humidity)
- Disposable placemats to use on a daily basis for your workstation
- Masks, gel, gloves and vitamins are available for purchase at the reception desk, depending on conditions of delivery
- A thermal scan will be performed at the entrance of the workspaces. Detection of high temperature, according to Federal guidelines, will help us o identify a possible infection and to prevent that person from entering the workspace and potentially transmit the virus.
- Digital displays are installed at the entrance of each floor, with prevention measures, the latest news and the names/logo of the companies present on that floor. This enables us to immediately inform all occupants and visitors if any change in measures has been imposed.
- A hands free dispenser station with disinfectant gel will be installed the entrance of the workspace. Once inside the workspace, each company is expected to provide gels, masks, etc for their employees.
- While wearing a mask has not been made mandatory by Belgian Federal Government (only on public transport), we highly recommend our clients to do so.
- Accessing and exiting the floor is separated by stickers on the floor
- All entrants and visitors will be requested to register on a daily basis, in accordance with the traceability measures taken by the Belgian Federal Government. As soon as a person has been confirmed with the virus, the operators of the Belgian Federal call center will trace all the people this person has been in contact with. By registering all our entrants on a daily basis, we will be able to inform the government and you as our client, immediately so they can the necessary steps to identify and notify whomever may be concerned.
- Where necessary, signs will show where to stand when using the elevator
- We ask you to clean your entrance badges on a regular basis.
- The health and security of our staff is important: we ask you to respect the same safety rules which apply in general.
- Respect the arrows and the dots on the floor when standing in front of the reception desk. We recommend wearing protective masks.
- Every person must comply with the instructions of our staff regarding the health and safety measures. Violating these instructions can result in a denial of access to the workspace.
- Non-compliance with the measures installed by the Belgian Federal Government for the workspace, will without any doubt result in a denial of access to the workspace for any person violating those terms.
- Mail and parcel delivery (post, boxes, …): every Interoffices location will have a safe zone where incoming and outgoing items will be stored for a period of time (estimate of 2 hours) and will be disinfected before release.
- Meeting rooms are to be reserved at least 1 day prior to arrival. This allows us to clean the room thoroughly before your arrival. In case of multiple meetings on the same day, a 1 hour interval applies for disinfection.
- All towels will be removed from the restrooms. Paper towels will replace these.
- Small gel dispensers have been placed to be used for cleaning the toilet seats with paper.
- Visitors must register upon entering the spaces and must at all time be accompanied by either our staff or our client.
- Disinfectant soap is available in the coffee corners and kitchen areas.
- Clear coloured dots and stickers have been placed on the floor in each specific spot where physical distance is less obvious
- Areas have been outlined on the floor to indicate a safe work zone
- Circulation flows have been installed, indicated by arrows on the floor, to ensure 1.5m distancing
- We limit the use of the kitchen area, front desk or printer area to a certain number of people at the same time. Common sense will be necessary and our staff will be more than happy to arrange a schedule for use, should that need arise.
- All communal areas have been reorganised to ensure a minimum of 1.5 m between 2 workstations or tables.
- The amount of seats in the meeting rooms has been reduced with respect to the 1.5 m distance rule.
- Social control is a difficult but important element to consider. If you find that some rules, measures or guidelines are not being respected, please inform our staff. Anyone not complying with the rules of the Belgian Federal Government, endangers the health of everyone present.
- For the safety of your team, of your colleagues, of your visitors, of your neighbours, we expect that you immediately notify us in case any of your colleagues or visitors is being placed/has been placed in quarantine, suspected of having Covid-19 or confirmed having Covid-19.
- In return, you will be notified in the same way. The traceability measures taken by the Belgian Federal Government, which has installed a special call center, make it possible for the operators to trace all the people an infected person has been in contact with.
- By registering our visitors on a daily basis, we are able to provide the call center operators of the Federal Government with the details they need to start their tracing.
- A private mail should be addressed to corona@interoffices.com informing us about the case and the steps that are being taken. This will enable us to act swiftly and to notify the Federal Government’s call center who will take it from there. It goes without saying that non-compliance can have serious effects on the health of all occupants of our spaces.
- We will communicate any changes in the health and safety procedures and any changes in the measures currently applied.
- The Federal Government is in the process of selecting a tracing app, that would be made available for all people on the Belgian territory. However, nothing has been decided yet at the date of this publication. Should this app become available, we will inform you about the conditions and where to download it.
- There has not been, at any moment, an interruption in maintenance of the workspace nor of the base building in terms of HVAC, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and other essential equipment in accordance with first-class standards, equipment operating requirements, and local regulations.
- We are in daily contact with and we apply the rules/recommendations of federal and local regulatory agencies for building maintenance and operations related to COVID-19.
- The list of maintenance includes already existing measures pre-Covid-19 and new measures
- All fittings and circuits of HVAC systems are being revised, repaired where necessary and adapted where necessary.
- Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing Maintenance are being continued
- Evacuation materials and devices are operational
- Fire safety systems are operational
- Elevator Maintenance has been done as scheduled
- Proactive measures to prevent legionella have not been discontinued
- Daily inspection rounds on all floors + parking + archives to monitor for plumbing leaks and roof/perimeter leaks
- Life Safety Maintenance has been continued
- In order to streamline the communication on COVID-19, you will receive shortly an invitation to join the COVID 19 group on the new Interoffices platform. All communication from Interoffices to clients will be made available in this group. You will be notified when new information is made available.
- For all our international clients managing their workforce from abroad, we are available for any information, clarification or guidance about the measures and regulations of the Federal Government of Belgium.
- In the case of specific requests for information which we can not immediately answer based on our personal knowledge, we will be happy to gather the information from the Belgian Institutions at a federal level.
