7 Keys to Ensure Customer Safety as You Re-Open Your Restaurant

March 2020 bought a standstill for the restaurant industry as the country went into a lockdown in an effort to slow the effects of the global pandemic. Now, most restaurants have opened their doors for takeout and delivery but their dining rooms are still empty. That’s because owners anxiously wait the green light from local governments and national health officials.

As people start to adapt to our new normal and the restrictions imposed due to the pandemic start to lift, it is time to open up your spaces for a cozy dine-in experience. This obviously doesn’t mean it’s back to business as usual for restaurants. Rather, the gradual lifting of dining restrictions is accompanied by prioritizing public health above all else. This means that just about every restaurateur needs to have a plan in place to prepare for this new era of hospitality.

Train Your Staff

One of the easiest and the most important things you can do before your staff returns to work is train them online. Create a training manual for your staff to operate in the new normal and have a plan of action to tackle customers during the peak hours. This includes daily temperature checks for every employee.

Host a virtual training session for every team to familiarize your employees with new mandates. Take them through your plan of action step-by-step like disposable menus or contactless payment systems. You can also tell them how you plan to ensure their safety so they feel more comfortable coming to work.

Prioritize Staff Safety

Create an employee wellness plan to monitor the health of your staff. Here are some things you can provide your employees to up the safety measures in your restaurant:

• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) – Provide PPE kits or face masks to your employees. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) does require certain industries to use standardized PPE like N95 masks, but if yours is not one of them you can provide your staff with gloves & face covers. You can also get customized masks for your employees to wear in the workplace & promote your brand.
• Temperature Checks – Temperature checks are already a mandated requirement for some essential workers. Consider employing the same strategy in your workplace so you can monitor the health of your employees regularly.
• Employer-led COVID Testing For Workers – You can conduct regular Covid tests for employees. As scientific and medical research on COVID immunity evolves, many experts believe that this may become a part of the employer testing process in the long run.

Spread Awareness, Not Covid –

Get banners & custom signs with visual examples of the new safety policies of your restaurant. Add decals on the floor to remind your customers to stay six feet apart in places where lines may form.

In the bathroom, proper handwashing technique signs should be ubiquitous. Your bathroom policy itself might have to change to one-at-a-time, and signs should reflect that as well.

Sanitize ‘em All

At the entrance of your restaurant install a touch-free floor-length sanitizer dispenser so people can sanitize their hands before entering the eating space.

For the bathrooms in your restaurant consider installing a touch-free wall-mounted sanitizer dispenser. This will help to ensure hygiene even when people come back from using the facilities. It takes up minimal space and is super affordable.

Sweep Your Way to the Top

Make sure your restaurant is cleaned and sanitized at least three times during the day. You can do this after the peak traffic of breakfast, lunch, and dinner hours. A clean restaurant means additional hygiene for your staff as well as customers. This will also help to attract more customers as they will feel safe eating in your restaurant.

Make Some Room

To ensure success in the new normal you might have to reduce some tables in your restaurant and install a floor-length sneeze shield to separate your customers from one another. If you are short on space or simply don’t want to use up a lot of space installing individual sneeze shields you can consider buying tabletop desk divider sneeze guards for your restaurant. They take up less space and are cost-effective.

Secure Your Risk Hotspots

The risk hotspots of your restaurants include:

• Frequently touched objects, such as door handles, counters, furniture, where microorganisms can be picked up or transferred
• Washrooms are frequently visited by a large number of people and they are usually made in a relatively small space. Toilet-flushing & washrooms in general, increase the risk of the spread of microorganisms on surfaces and in the air
• Food storage areas that might attract pests and can work as a breeding ground for these pests
• Food waste storage areas that attract pests and encourage insect breeding
• Payment keypads

You need to secure these risk hotspots by adding some regulations for each area. You can convey these regulations to your customers by using large banners telling them the exact instructions of how to operate in the new normal.

Final Thoughts

Operating your business in the new normal might take some learning but it is eventually for the best as it just means we are keeping our health as a priority & being more cautious about it. Before opening your store/restaurant or shop make sure you have all your safety supplies so that your establishment can function properly.

Resources:

Considerations for Restaurant and Bar Operators

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/organizations/business-employers/bars-restaurants.html

4 Steps to Reopening Your Business Safely

https://www.uschamber.com/co/start/strategy/safely-reopening-businesses-tips

Reopening Your Restaurant After A Closure: A Checklist

https://www.highspeedtraining.co.uk/hub/reopening-your-restaurant-checklist/

Reopening a Restaurant: A Practical Guide

https://www.wasserstrom.com/blog/2020/04/17/reopening-a-restaurant-a-practical-guide/

A Step-by-Step Playbook for Reopening Your Restaurant

https://www.qsrmagazine.com/restaurant-operations/step-step-playbook-reopening-your-restaurant