The pandemic has been a revival in IT know-how for employees all around the world. Many have needed to get more confident in their IT skills (or follow some online tutorials) to set up Zoom meetings, troubleshoot network issues at home, and protect confidential data. Therefore, it’s been a fantastic learning curve about data security, cyber safety, and overall IT wizardry. While that doesn’t mean that your teams are expert IT technicians, the tech confidence boost can certainly benefit everyday operations.
However, as offices are reopening, it’s now essential to bring your IT health to the next level. Granted, staff can confidently diagnose minor issues on their laptops. But that doesn’t mean business devices are safe. On the contrary, going back to the office after a hiatus brings new threats to light. Have you considered how potentially dangerous your local environment could be?
#1. Forgetting the most essential resource for your IT team
As teams are heading back to the office and leaving their working spot at home, you need to make space a priority. The IT department is likely to be overwhelmed with queries and last-minute fixes. You have to consider that a lot of employees have made some changes to their work devices to make sure they could use them at home. Once they are back at the office, the IT team will need to support employees with making their devices office-friendly and office-safe again. The bottom line: It’s likely to be a lot of work, and a lot of people wandering into the IT department or calling in. Giving your IT team plenty of space will make a huge difference. A crowded IT room will only drive stress and increase the risk of human errors (yes, even from experts!).
#2. Cracked or damaged parking lot
If you’ve encouraged your team to work from home since the start of the pandemic, it’s fair to say that your premises have been empty for a full year. It’s time to kick your maintenance routine back in shape. Most companies are planning for enhanced cleaning and sanitizing services for the office. But you also need to focus on the outside area. Office gardens and parking lots will need a lot of attention. Nobody wants a cracked or uneven parking lot to be the first thing your employees will see when they come back. That’s precisely where infrastructure experts such as Keflatwork.com can help you create a safe workplace. Indeed, an uneven garden or car park area can lead to accidental falls. The last thing you want is for someone to trip and fall while carrying their work laptop.
#3. High humidity levels
Mold patches can appear in rooms that are not ventilated regularly. If you’ve left your premises unattended for the best part of a year, you want to check for mold signs. Mold spores can travel in the air and affect electronic devices. While individually they might be invisible to the naked eye, they can still contaminate your IT devices, as per Restorationmasterfinder.com. This could happen if the premises have encountered unexpected flooding, such as stagnant water in the basement for instance. These conditions contribute to mold apparition and invasion, making inorganic IT materials such as copper, lithium, glass, and silicon a target too.
#4. It’s too hot in the office
If you’ve been trying to keep costs low by cutting down on expenses, you could accidentally put your technology at risk. This is especially true for companies that are running a server room. Your server room can be deeply affected by sudden changes in temperatures. Unfortunately, despite a year of reduced greenhouse gas emissions, global warming is still happening. As a result, sudden and prolonged summer heat remains a risk. When your server room overheats with no way of cooling down, servers could shut down. It’s worth checking your temperature regulating system and ensuring they are still fit for purpose.
#5. Stressful layout
Companies have had to rethink their office layouts to fit covid-safety regulations. A lot of businesses have introduced cubicle-style desks that can prevent some exposure to virus spread. Others have chosen to use social distancing between desks, which can lead to using small and individual desks to save space. Additionally, the covid focus could push essential H&S strategies further down the priority list. Loose wires and cables can appear in our offices and present trip hazards. Combined with heightened emotional states, the office is a new haven for clumsy, stress-related accidents that could damage your IT, such as coffee spills and falls.
As companies are encouraging teams to come back to the office, it’s important to audit the local environment for potential risks. In a post-pandemic world, we need to consider the combined effect of high stress levels and reduced maintenance activities for a prolonged period.