Social distancing is a tool recommended to slow the spread of a disease that is being passed from person to person.

Simply put, it means that people stay far enough away from each other so that the coronavirus cannot spread from one person to another.

The current recommendation is to maintain a minimum distance of 1.5 metres from others in all environments.

Here are some additional steps you can take to reduce the spread of germs in the workplace:

• Stop using handshaking or any other form of physical touch as a greeting
• Hold meetings via teleconference or video conference (Skype, Teams, Zoom etc.)
• Ensure employees eat lunch at their desk or outside, rather than in a shared lunch environment

• Hold any essential meetings outside in the open air if possible
• Clean and disinfect all high touch surfaces regularly
• Promote good hand and sneeze/cough hygiene and provide hand sanitisers in all work environments
• Allow employees to adjust their start and end times if that enables them to travel at less congested times
• Do not schedule any social events that require face-to-face attendance and instead try more innovative way of connecting your people

Importantly, if anyone is feeling unwell, they should not attend work.

For further information around protecting yourself and others from COVID-19, head to the Australian Department of Health website.