The unique challenges presented by COVID-19 will shape the world for the foreseeable future. We must all adapt, and adapt quickly, to the new social, political, and business landscape and be prepared for permanent changes to the way we did things before COVID-19.
Organizations that take the necessary steps today and have reasonable expectations will undoubtedly be in a better position to adapt to an unknown and evolving future.
Some of the operational changes will impact maintenance productivity. However, your technicians and equipment operators are your most important resource at this time. It is vitally important that you protect this resource as much as possible.
Aside from sanitizing or washing your hands frequently and regularly, below are a few tips to consider implementing in your shop. Keep in mind, the goal is to isolate your shop from the rest of the organization and outside world:
Enforce a strict maintenance technicians only policy in the shop.
Quarantine paperwork to and from the office for at least 24 hours to isolate the shop from admin staff.
Keep your shop organized and clean. 1 part bleach and 9 parts water in a spray container makes an effective and affordable cleanser.
Sanitize all potential touch surfaces at the end of each shift. Make a checklist of all areas to be sanitized.
Stagger shifts to avoid contact between maintenance technicians
Keep bucket(s) of water with lots of soap and rags throughout the shop to prewash any working area that may have been touched and tools before and after each use.
Have maintenance technicians wear a mask to minimize exposure to others if they do in fact become infected.
Have all maintenance technicians wear gloves, safely discard them after each repair, and wash their hands.
Clean all parts and supplies coming in the shop. Check out this youtube video on handling groceries. It can be adapted to work in your parts department.
If you have a computer in your shop, clean the keyboard, mouse and desk before and after each use; especially if the computer is shared. Do not spray cleanser directly on the keyboard or mouse. Spray generously on a paper towel and wipe it down.
Work outside as much as possible.
If you have multiple maintenance technicians with work spaces adjacent to each other, keep them segregated with a barrier and keep the barrier clean.
Avoid working in teams.
Fleet Harmony’s cloud-based maintenance management software is geared to enable fleet managers and supporting admin staff to work from home while still efficiently managing shop maintenance and repairs. If you are struggling with implementing “work from home”, contact us. We can help!
Be safe, self isolate, and practice social distancing to help contain the spread of COVID-19.
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