Unless you’ve been living under a rock (in which case, you’re probably really safe!), you’ve no doubt been inundated with many troubling facts about the coronavirus. Wondering what you need to do to protect your customers, employees and business? Glenna Hecht, co-founder of Humanistic Consulting, offers a few points of consideration for floral industry professionals.

Sanitize, Sanitize, Sanitize

We all know it’s important to wash our hands, for a minimum of 20 seconds. But that’s just a start of the hygienic measures you should be taking, said Hecht, a Floral Management magazine contributor and frequent speaker for the Society of American Florists. Retailers, in particular, should “constantly” clean their check out area, where customers tend to place purses and smartphones. “Those items are absolutely covered with germs,” Hecht said. “Many people don’t think about aggressively wiping down counters, but that is a must.” The same philosophy goes for any areas that customers touch, such as cooler doors or display shelves.

Hecht also recommends scrutinizing anything that many staff members touch, such as telephones, cash registers or tablets, computers, doorknobs, breakroom appliances (microwave, refrigerator, etc.) and light switches — especially the one in the bathroom. (“Unless your business has updated to motion detector lights, every single person who goes in has touched that switch!” she said.) Put out Clorox or Lysol wipes to make it easy and second nature for your team to disinfect throughout the day.

Protect Your Delivery Drivers

Whether their destination is a busy office center or a person’s home, your drivers are entering unknown territories, where they could come in contact with the virus. Since most florists collect recipients’ phone numbers when they take orders, you have an opportunity to contact people to let them know their flowers will be arriving soon and, as a precaution against coronavirus, the driver will leave them at the front door/reception desk/nurses’ station, etc.

Shipt, a grocery delivery service, recently implemented this policy and emailed its members the following message: “Our priority is keeping everyone as safe and healthy as possible. Out of an abundance of caution, we’re encouraging our shoppers to drop your items off at your front door, where applicable.”

“The important thing is to come up with a procedure and apply it consistently to every customer,” Hecht said. “You can’t just call up a recipient and say, ‘Hi, are you sick?’ to decide whether or not to open the door. That’s an invasion of privacy.”

Evaluate Your Air Flow

Have you dragged your feet fixing a lackluster ventilation system? Procrastinate no more. “That’s breeding ground for bacteria and could spread a respiratory illness,” Hecht said.

Review Your Sick Leave Policy

“This may be the biggest challenge for small business owners, because many companies don’t offer sick days,” Hecht said. “The Family and Medical Leave Act will protect employees’ jobs if they get sick, but it won’t get them wages while they’re absent.”

Hecht recommends your leadership team gets together to come up with a short-term solution for the pandemic. “They need to figure out what they can do, what they’re willing to do and what they can afford to do — and apply it consistently across the board,” she said.

Relatedly, school closures could cause additional headaches, as employees who are parents have to stay home with their children. “Those with older kids might be able to multi-task and work remotely,” she said. “But anyone with a toddler or elementary school-age child will be pretty tied up.”

As a general precaution, you should pay close attention to everyone on your team. “If someone appears to be unwell, the company should intervene,” Hecht said. “Ask if they’re okay and suggest that they go home.” Also consider tools, such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), that allow employees to work from home.

Katie Hendrick Vincent is the senior contributing writer and editor for the Society of American Florists.

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