Health & Safety

By Danielle Moore
Director, Channel Marketing
SpaceIQ

As organizations explore safe and measured returns to work, they need tools and resources to help ensure the ongoing health and safety of employees. Archibus provides tools for hoteling and reservations, preventive and corrective maintenance, occupancy, health compliance, and myriad others. Our goal is to deliver a complete suite of solutions that help organizations put their best foot forward as they take steps to get back to work.

Here’s a look at the many tools Archibus offers and how to capitalize on them. Keep checking back after each version release to discover new solutions to facilitate your return to work.

Hoteling

Archibus’ robust hoteling features empower your workforce to find and book spaces with ease—from full-time employees, to flex workers, to visitors. Enforce bookings, schedule cleanings, monitor capacity, restrict and enable bookings, prevent duplicate reservations and more—all through a pool of pre-approved, socially distanced spaces. Learn more.

Improve space utilization and enable the disposition of excess inventory
Realize a more efficient facilities footprint resulting from improved space utilization
Accommodate a mobile workforce and increase employee satisfaction
Encourage responsible and efficient use of space

Reservations

Room reservations create new governance opportunities for facility managers, without hampering employees as they return to the workplace. Use Archibus to structure workspace check-ins and mandate health checks before check-in. Allow pre-approved room reservations that incorporate time before and after a meeting for proper cleaning. Learn more.

Secure shared space and resources with self-service Web forms
Streamline invitations to participants via integration with most email clients
Reservations Plugin lets individuals make room reservations within the Outlook™ client
Extension for Microsoft Exchange handles all reservations and updates

Space Inventory

With changing occupancy limits comes the need to redefine your space. Refocus allocation and distribute space in new, more efficient ways with Archibus’ space inventorying and planning tools. Assign employees to safe seats that meet social distancing guidelines and create workplaces that make better use of the space you have, based on demand. Learn more.

Deliver flexible, self-service reporting for effective space allocation and cost control
Improve evaluation of building performance and enable accurate benchmarking
Enhance design/planning capabilities to use space more efficiently
Increase productivity with Archibus All-in-One Home Page with quick access to tasks

Space Planning

Forecast and plan for large space and occupancy changes at all levels, including portfolio, city, and site/campus, as well as building and room levels. Track when, how, and why employees use spaces, then leverage that data into more efficient floor plans—all designed within the parameters of a post-pandemic framework. Learn more.

View how space is allocated across divisions, departments, buildings, and campuses
Compare spaces to identify vacancies
Track available space over time
Generate space scenarios directly from existing inventory

Occupancy

Track and manage which employees work remotely vs. those coming back-to-work in phases. Occupancy metrics help companies maintain distancing standards, manage desk availability, optimize for space utilization, and more. Archibus’ daily and real-time occupancy reporting puts facility managers on the front lines of planning for and enforcing safe space usage. Learn more.

Coordinate workspace availability between various workgroups
Authorize space allocation by group, department, shift, and more
Review daily occupancy data to glean insights about space trends
Integrate with reservation and hoteling software to automate occupancy management

Building Operations and Maintenance

With a return to work comes a shift in operational best practices, especially around building maintenance. Archibus helps you adjust accordingly. Automatically schedule room and desk cleanings between reservations, to promote a safer work environment for employees. Or, schedule daily or periodic “deep clean” work orders for specific locations. Learn more.

Observe proactive and corrective maintenance workflows
Utilize a full CMMS to support your approach to facility maintenance
Create and define return-to-work tasks specific to workspaces
Automate maintenance and operations workflows to simplify oversight demands

Moves

Maintain the mobility of your workplace and streamline the move/add/change processes, to support employee safety with minimal organizational disruption. Archibus’ centralized move management system lets you keep tabs on movement and action, so you can maintain workplace agility without compromising employee safety. Learn more.

Streamline the entire move process, including requests, approvals, and updates
Improve communication between in-house and external resources
Generates trial layouts, move analytics, and intelligent dashboards
Enable the timely distribution of updated personnel and cost center information

Workplace

Create the workplace your employees need with Archibus. Help employees find resources, book meetings and workspaces, access services, and request moves through a convenient desktop or mobile experience. Archibus does it all, so you can shape the workplace around the needs of the people using it—all while staying safe, compliant, and productive. Learn more.

Use GIS and BIM data to create a complete digital twin of every workplace
Leverage broad integrations to create a workplace that’s smart and connected
Combine digital workplace assets with physical facilities, to better-support your team
Create an agile, flexible workplace that operates within a post-pandemic framework

Compliance

Businesses of all sizes need to take steps to protect themselves from liability in a post-pandemic workplace. Lean on Archibus to reduce the chance of virus spread and potential shutdowns that result from inadequate compliance practices. From social distancing tracking to hazard abatement, you’ll have tools to prevent compliance issues before they arise. Learn more.

Personalized back-to-work e-mail notifications
Monitor and adjust the dynamic workplace
Achieve and maintain regulatory and code compliance
Track key processes involved in social distancing

Asset Management

Take advantage of an integrated view of where to find key assets within your facilities, such as personal protective equipment (PPE), cleaning supplies, and other equipment. Archibus makes it easy for employees to find the equipment and resources they need, and for facility and asset managers to track, monitor, and maintain them. Learn more.

Centralize asset inventory
Track assets, enhance accountability
Budget assets with full view costs
Enable a full life cycle strategy

Condition Assessment

Evaluate the condition of critical assets and buildings, initiating remediation work where needed. Archibus keeps your facilities and assets up and running safely, with insights on how to prevent problems before they arise. Provide employees with a seamless return to work experience—one that isn’t hindered by downed assets or facility restrictions. Learn more.

Track asset condition, plan for maintenance, and prepare budget scenarios
Utilize an objective and systematic framework for prioritizing work
Improve information accuracy and consistency
Reduce downtime and associated costs

Emergency Preparedness

From shared work environments to corporate campuses, emergency preparedness is key. As employees return to work, their situation and surroundings may have changed. They need to stay informed about new protocols and standards, so they can act accordingly in an emergency. Archibus helps you implement safety procedures and plan for hazards protectively. Learn more.

Proactive emergency operations management
Access accurate information about risks
Implement contact tracing to quickly resume normal operations
Expedite insurance claims and negotiate more favorable coverage terms

Hazard Abatement

Protect employee health and minimize organizational liability by quickly and accurately locating, tracking, and abating hazards. From contact tracing to narrow exposure pools to workspace disinfection standards and scheduling, Archibus makes proactive management of hazards a top priority, to reduce liabilities across facilities. Learn more.

Facilitate a safe working environment for building occupants
Minimize regulatory actions and/or occupational illnesses
Avert costly operating shutdowns, loss of facility use, penalties, or fines
Identify, locate, sample, document, and abate potential exposures

Health & Safety

Reduce workplace safety incidents and better manage personal protective equipment (PPE), training, medical monitoring, and work restrictions through Archibus. Use a mix of building information data and connected workplace sensors to get a top-down view of facilities and a clearer understanding of where and how to avoid potential health and safety risks. Learn more.

Identify, evaluate, and correct health and safety risks in the workplace
Reduce medical claims, disability compensation, and loss of productivity
Track and follow-up on health and safety incidents to minimize risk and liability
Reduce the cost of administering a health and safety program

Waste

From masks and gloves to materials used to sanitize workspaces, pandemic waste materials need careful treatment and oversight. Use Archibus to track and manage COVID-19 hazardous waste from point of generation to final disposition, to mitigate errors, omissions, and accidents. Learn more.

Simplify tracking and management of hazardous waste streams
Decrease the risk of fines or litigation surrounding hazardous waste storage and disposal
Increase the visibility and improve accountability for waste management
Reduce the cost and effort of satisfying waste audit and reporting requirements

Projects

Provide a central location for employees to manage COVID-related project details, including schedule tracking and budgeting. Archibus’ dashboard keeps employees in the loop about what’s expected of them and how to navigate projects and duties within the framework of new policies, protocols, and procedures. It sets standards and expectations for everyone. Learn more.

Create a top-down perspective of program and project priorities, actions, and costs
Allow project members to synchronize information at different organizational units
Streamline project oversight via milestones, tasks, and status changes
Reduce administrative burden by leveraging existing data

Get ready for a seamless return to work

Archibus helps companies of all sizes get back to work. Utilize the tools above to plan and execute a seamless return to work, and keep checking back as we continue to add tools based on the needs of our customers.

Want to explore Archibus’ back-to-work solutions for yourself? Schedule a demo today.

Keep reading: Back-to-Work Planning & Employee Sentiment

By Devon Maresco
Marketing Coordinator
SpaceIQ

Bringing employees back into the office post-pandemic is a strange experience for everyone. For employees who haven’t seen their workplace in a year or more, the return can seem both familiar and foreign. For employers, there’s a slew of new considerations for returning to the office, and there’s not always a plan for how to address them. Without a well-thought-out approach an abrupt move-back isn’t benefitting anyone. Instead, take a moment to consider how to facilitate a smooth return.

Bringing people back into the office safely and comfortably starts with a review of what’s changed. In some cases, it means reviewing new workplace guidelines from the CDC, OSHA, and other government entities. In other cases, it’s about taking into consideration best-practices and methodologies from experts and thought leaders. And, of course, it’s vital to listen to the concerns and expectations of employees.

The workplace may look familiar, but from here on out, it’s going to operate differently. It needs to, to accommodate an agile workforce in a post-pandemic work environment. Here’s how to make the return to office work smooth and comfortable, even in spite of the changes.

Return to work considerations for employers

When approaching an unfamiliar situation like a return to the office after an extended hiatus, the first and biggest consideration is all of the new variables involved. With perspective, a smooth return becomes a matter of building these new considerations into a viable plan. From social distancing to health and safety, here’s a look at the seven chief considerations for a return to the office.

Infrastructure. Post-pandemic workplaces need to strongly reconsider the physical limitations of the space they operate within. Everything from desking concepts to distancing guidelines will change the dynamic of the space, and adapting means being able to look at available space through a new lens. How much square footage do you operate and what’s the new value of that space?
Sanitization. Employees need to feel safe in their workplace. Beyond supplying hand sanitizer and cleaning products, companies need to develop systems for sterilizing and sanitizing workstations and shared environments between uses. Ask yourself if your CMMS or IWMS platform offers the ability to create booking buffers and automate cleaning tickets to expedite the time between uses in a safe way.
Flexibility. The workforce has become more agile since the pandemic, which means supporting flex schedules, distributed teams, and modern concepts like hoteling. Aside from acclimating employees to more dynamic desking concepts, companies also need to make investments in software and systems to facilitate increased flexibility within the workplace. A smooth back-end system translates to an easier, more familiar experience for employees.
Exposure. How can you structure the workplace to mitigate unnecessary exposure between employees—and to create contract tracing in the event of illness? Companies need to consider the logistics of their workplace environment before they bring people back, to anticipate and eliminate unchecked exposure situations. This requires consideration for everything from desking concepts, to office flow, to sanitization guidelines.
Distancing. Distancing guidelines won’t disappear after COVID-19. Now’s the time to reassess office floor plans to create distance and comfort for employees. It’s also prudent to create new distancing policies and familiarize employees with them before they come back into the office. Distancing will give employees a sense of personal space and comfort, which can ease the return to a physical workplace and expedite the transition back to a normal work routine.
Local conditions. Companies need to be cognizant of the local climate beyond their own workplace. While the U.S. is vaccinating at a rapid pace, vaccination rollout around the globe isn’t as quick. Companies with offices around the world need to take a return to the office on a case-by-case basis. It might be safe for a fully vaccinated office in Atlanta to come back to the workplace, but a partially vaccinated staff in Seoul might still be several weeks away from a return.
Employee sentiment. Forcing employees back into the office is a recipe for frustration and low morale. For many organizations, flex work is a great compromise. For businesses where interoffice work is imperative, it’s vital to listen to employee concerns and make concerted efforts to address them.

Bringing employees back into the office takes more effort than putting up partitions and moving desks apart. In many cases, it means reassessing the way the office operates—both physically and procedurally. Consider these seven variables and use them to influence your decision-making process as you re-shape the workplace for a post-COVID-19 world.

Returning to work after COVID-19

Don’t get trapped in the mindset that these considerations are temporary. COVID-19 spurred new focus on workplace safety and utilization, and its effects are ongoing. From distributed teams to flex work policies, the workplace doesn’t play the same role it once did for companies. This isn’t to say it’s less valuable in any way—in fact, it’s even more valuable to the people relying on it to regain a sense of normalcy in their work habits. It’s up to companies to provide this normalcy via a smooth transition into a safer, more thoughtfully designed workplace.

Keep reading: Post-COVID Return to Work

Explore Archibus Back-to-Work Solutions

Seven Considerations for Returning to the Office

Return to work considerations for employers

Returning to work after COVID-19