It Doesn't Cost Much to Stay Safe: Practical Tips from a Healthcare Expert

In my conversation with Mike Marino, firefighter and emergency preparedness director at Emerson Hospital in Concord, MA, he shared practical ways to keep your business environment safe for you, your customers, and staff. 

While all of Mike's tips are great, his focus on affordable PPE options highlights the fact that you don't have to overspend to stay safe.

Here's what you'll learn:

• What PPE you really need
• Why a bandana works as a mask
• How to use a binder cover as a face shield
• How to make your own bleach wipes that cost way less 

Watch the video and add any questions you’d like Mike to answer in the comment section below. We'll publish a follow-up of him addressing your top concerns, so chime in with any and all of your safety questions.

Transcript

Eric Groves:

Hello, this is Eric Groves, cofounder of Alignable. And a couple of weeks ago, I was working on a post about creating a safe environment as businesses opened up across the country. And at the time, I was fortunate enough to be introduced to Mike Marino, who was in charge of emergency preparedness at Emerson Hospital in Concord. 

And as you know, hospitals, which many of us forget are businesses too, were not only on the front lines throughout this crisis in many ways, but they've also established the best practices around how one can open up or reopen a business safely in this environment.

Eric Groves:

I learned so much from my conversation with Mike. I asked if he'd be willing to join me for an interview so he can share his expertise along with all that they've learned at Emerson with you, so you'll well prepared to reopen and recover in the safest way possible for yourself, your customers and your staff.

Eric Groves:

So Mike, without further ado, welcome to the largest online network of small business owners in North America, and really appreciate you being here today.

Mike Marino:

Excellent. I appreciate it, thank you for having me.

What Are The Most Important Things Businesses Can Do To Create a Safe Environment?

Eric Groves:

Absolutely. So why don't we start off thinking about your average retail business, you're also on the Somerville Fire Department and you're thinking about all the retail businesses along main street there in Somerville. 

And if you were advising them as someone whose business requires a fair amount of face to face time with either customers or staff, what are the most important things they can do to create a safe and welcoming environment for their customers and their employees?

1. Put Up Welcoming Signs

Mike Marino:

Sure. I think what they can do, and what the information that I've put out for some of them, some of the colleagues that I have, just in the city of Somerville, is really giving the presence or notation that it's a clean environment to come into. 

Signage is really important, it's been huge for the hospital, and anything that we've done is having really visible signage, welcoming signage. So in terms of transitioning from a red stop to something more green or blue, and just saying, "We require a mask," or "We are cleaning for your protection," 

And really making sure that that's visible for the people to see. As well as what's required of the access station for the state and what they're requiring.

Related content: Insider Communication Tips to Help Your Customers Feel Safe

2. Use Visual Cues to Help Customers and Staff Feel Safe

Mike Marino:

So masks are big and in Massachusetts, they're required in Massachusetts. So having employees wearing masks is big. So that's a visual. A lot of the things that we are doing at the hospital that I can translate to a small business or a business opening would be anything visual you can use to show what you're doing as you can see is gone along the way. 

A lot of things we are doing at the hospital that translates to small business would be anything visual you can use to show what you're doing.

We've done a lot of surveys with our patients, as i.e your customers, it's not opening up small practices and certain things throughout the community. And a lot of them are, how were the waiting rooms changed? How are you able to wait for services? 

Maybe it's gone to outside, maybe you can put a few chairs outside to have people that can't sit in the parking lot or sit in their vehicle. And how would you accommodate somebody that's physically disabled?

3. Provide Options for All of Your Customers

Mike Marino:

And there's another thing. If they did walk 10 blocks or they did make the ride to come to your establishment for a service that you are going to provide, or they're going to purchase, ways you don't have to turn them away because of the way your building is set up. 

Is there an area that you can have for an ADA compatibility, have them wear a mask? "What can I do to help you?" Maybe come out to them, that's another thing that we've been doing, is bringing services out to them, which you guys are really good at curbside. 

You've really done that. We're taking a lot from some of the restaurant owners and businesses as you order and come out, we're doing that for our PCP practices.

Eric Groves:

Interesting.

Mike Marino:

If you were to go into your store, what would make you feel comfortable?

So, the number one thing I would say for your group of business owners is out of the box thinking, and if you were to go into your store, what would make you feel comfortable? 

Would you feel okay buying or seeing a doctor or being treated in this environment? 

If it looks like we're organized, we have a great process, it's streamlined and all the employees are outwardly showing that, "We're prepared to take care of you, and we're doing everything that we're supposed to be doing.'

What Type of Mask Do Business Owners Need?

Eric Groves:

That's great advice. One of the things that you enlightened me on that woke me up a little bit to this whole thing was really talking about the real purpose of different types of PPE. And I thought you might be willing to eliminate some of that confusion for other folks. 

And so I'm going to start off with a typical one, which is red bandana, non-surgical mask, N95 mask, what's the difference, and why am I wearing it?

Mike Marino:

The mask on your face...is for everybody else's protection.

Sure. So a good thing for businesses, I would say just the general businesses, and what, why you would wear PPE. If you've never been introduced to PPE, [inaudible 00:05:37] you're a restaurant. You have some PPE and gloves in food preparation, and certain stuff like that. 

But the PPE that you're being required to wear and purchase is funny, like a surgical mask or why we wear masks out in public. It's not necessarily for your protection. 

You feel like the mask that's on your face should be filtering the particles that you're breathing in the air. And it's not, it's for everybody else's protection. So it's to contain that cough, it's to contain any secretions or the droplets that you're producing.

Mike Marino:

In general life, someone sneezes, you can't predict when you're going to sneeze, it just comes out. If you didn't have something to cover, whether it's a red bandana, whether it's an N95, whether it's a surgical mask or some other mask you've purchased, a cloth mask, all that's doing is containing that, because we are standing in a place that multiple people are around, and we can't socially distance.

Mike Marino:

So if you're out in a park and you're on a golf course or a wide spance, and nobody's around, you're not worried about that six foot distance, it doesn't carry and blow down. 

But if you're waiting in a waiting room of a doctor's office, or you're waiting in the foyer of a business that you're waiting to be seen or be brought back, i.e a waiting room for a hair salon or something like that, it's very difficult to contain that. 

And that's what it's all about with the virus, it's a droplet precaution virus that just means if someone sneezes or coughs, we produce small unvisibly seen droplets that spray around. 

That's when you see all these studies, when they spray a spray bottle to duplicate a sneeze and they put it under a black light and you see all these speckles all around. If someone's wearing a mask, that's not going to happen.

Mike Marino:

So it's the degrees of PPE for what you do. There's a job for the PPE. And that's why I was talking to you about that. So, you don't have to go above and beyond and buy an N95 respirator if you're not going to be involved in something that requires that respirator, right?

Eric Groves:

Right.

Mike Marino:

And N95 is a buzzword, it's the new thing. It's what everybody wants because we hear, they just go out and buy one, not knowing that it's really difficult to breathe through that, it filters 95% of the particles that you have in the air.

And there's uses for them, there's also different N95 respirators, there's ones if you're going to be doing healthcare, that repel biologicals and some fluids, there's an N95 mask for sanding your deck.

And that one may not be as necessarily good for healthcare because it's not water resistant. But I would say, for business owners, there's nothing really that you need. If you weren't conducting business with an N95 prior to this, you will not need it.

How Else Can Staff Protect Themselves and the Business Environment?

Eric Groves:

Got you. So, from a retail business or a salon owner, in terms of really doing the best that I can to protect my staff, clearly having everybody wearing masks when they're in close proximity, but what else should I be having them do as a general practice to keep as clean as possible within the store?

Mike Marino:

So, I'll only translate what we've started in some of the small PCP offices, which mimics small businesses as they are in some office buildings, and some office parks. So some of the stuff we've implemented is visible login sheets, like you would see in your business bathroom, we clean this, this, this in this time. 

The other thing I see, which I meant is visualized, and you can take it from some of the supermarkets in establishments like that is maybe after each customer, you do a wipe down, or you do a cleanse. 

It's something that someone in a waiting line or someone visually can see that things are being done prior to them being served.

Mike Marino:

I always bring up gloves. And I know we spoke about that last time. And gloves are funny, because they give a false sense of security. You're wearing gloves, but they're really good as it's been changed. 

So picking up this in that side or taking this from this person, just because you're cutting my hair, you need to change your gloves every time. So that's something that it's not made to wear all day. 

So, regular hand hygiene, washing your hands, sanitizing, those are things that you can do. I won't hand you your money or I won't hand you a receipt until I sanitize and give you something like that. 

After I treat this customer, whether it's in a line, I'll then sanitize prior to that. I may ask them to sanitize before they give me something.

Eric Groves:

Got you.

Mike Marino:

Those kinds of things are visual, and they are easily able to be put into place without really putting the business owner out. And it gives someone a process and a sense of security that we're cleaning after each person.

How Can You Communicate Your Safety Guidelines to Customers?

Eric Groves:

So, the thing that was stood out to me the most was when you said, are you putting your customers out by asking them to wear a mask when they're coming in the business.

And the way you had to describe that was that it's more about the fact that you're asking them to wear a mask so you can keep your staff healthy, so that they're there to serve them and others in the community going forward.

And it's really not, "I'm trying to put a burden on you, look, I'm trying to do what's best for my staff."

Mike Marino:

Correct.

Eric Groves:

And I thought that was really an interesting perspective.

Mike Marino:

I'm having my staff wear masks to protect you from them. 

I agree. And I also spin it the other way when we've had people question the mass policy, and I say, "I'm having my staff wear masks to protect you from them." 

"Well, I'm here also to protect you, you're a valued customer, you're enlisting my staff or services. We all know what the times are. I'm requiring them to wear a mask in order to serve you."

Eric Groves:

That's awesome.

Mike Marino:

It gives them the two sided argument, "We're asking you, sir, because it's state law, and when you enter the establishment to wear it, I didn't create these, but we're all doing it for our own safety. You won't see one of my employees not wearing a mask when they're going to serve you or give you a service."

Should Business Owners Have Extra Masks On Hand For Customers?

Eric Groves:

So as a business owner, having a decent supply of masks on hand that you can give to a customer who walks in, who's not prepared sounds like a great, great way to set your staff up to be as protected as possible.

Mike Marino:

It's big. And like I said, that goes back to the PPE that we spoke earlier. 

If you are able to buy a hundred surgical masks, you can keep those surgical masks just for people that might have forgotten a mask in the car, and didn't realize I can provide you this mask. And you can use the re-washable cloth masks, or any masks that they are able to use, it just has to be a mask.

I told you, you can create masks with t-shirts. If you are a server, your color was black and they walked into a business and the color was black, you can create all black masks for everyone to match.

Do You Need Special Soap to Wash Masks, Surfaces, or Hands?

Eric Groves: 

And you were saying also, that once they wear that and they're done with it, and they take it off, you were explaining the proper way to take it off, which would be great to hear. But also just washing that with regular soap and water was enough to kill the-

Mike Marino:

Absolutely. So you don't need any special disinfectant. The hospital washes sheets and gowns in a regular Tide or regular detergent. And that's what it is. 

There's no specific heat that has to be used, there are no specific industrial washer or product that you have to use. 

Anything 70% alcohol will disinfect the surface. 

I don't want people to feel like they have to go out and get something very specific in order to help their staff. 

If you had no hand sanitizer, plain, old hand soap will work just as well. So I don't want people to feel like they have to go out and get something very specific in order to help their staff.

If you have a sink, you're absolutely able to provide as much Dove or Suave, or whatever you want, and it's not a specific brand that's anything, as long as you have soap and water and they wash their hands, it's exactly what you would do before.

What Should You Do When You're Out of Hand Sanitizer or Bleach Wipes?

Eric Groves:

That's awesome advice. So any other last tips that you have of things that they can do when supplies run lean, I know you guys really dealt with some crazy situations during the massive outbreak, but what other creative things should they think about?

Mike Marino:

So, I mean, there's been a lot of ingenuity, I'll tell you, that has come out of this, and what people have created has been unbelievable. I would say, think out of the box, but don't get too complicated. 

Think about the process that you need and why you need it. You can go online on any Google site and type in 3D printed face shield, and anyone with a 3D printer, which now they're pretty, fairly cheap, but any 3D printer can create a 3D printed mask immediately for a face shield. 

And they're all free, they're not copyrighted, and you can print those right out.

Mike Marino:

So all it requires is a strainer, an elastic band, whatever you want for the back of the head. 

And at the hospital, we've used almost binder sheets that you can get at Staples, as long as they're clear. 

Also, a face shield is re-cleanable, any hard surface is re-cleanable with one in 10 bleach, any wipe that you have, Clorox or Lysol wipes that you can get.

Put paper towels in a five gallon bucket with one and 10 bleach solution [to make] wipes.

Or you can put paper towels in a five gallon bucket with one and 10 bleach solution, and there's your wipes.

Eric Groves:

Fantastic.

Mike Marino:

So, those kind of things is what you don't have to buy a name, brand, or you don't have to buy a made product. We made hand sanitizer when we were really low, out of 80 proof alcohol through the pharmacy and added glycerine, and so there's your hand sanitizer. 

So that's where you're seeing breweries were enlisted to make hand sanitizer and change how they did business in order to adapt to what the need was.

Mike Marino:

So I would say, as you're trying to make your business ready to get up and going by no means, do you have to get it from a specific vendor or a specific brand, as long as it's an approved cleaner.

I would tell you folks, go to a lot of these websites from the State, EPA. EPA is a great website to get what's approved to kill Coronavirus, and it gives you a very detailed list on EPA products approved to kill Coronavirus. 

So, that's how we've looked out of the box of what our vendor, we could go to Clorox, we could go to Lysol, it didn't have to be a specific brand. So thinking out of the box and thinking out of that specific shell, explore other things.

Find a list of EPA-approved cleaners

Eric Groves:

Super. Well, thank you so much. This is great advice.

Mike Marino:

Welcome.

Eric Groves:

And really, as people try and get creative, it's great to hear that those creative things work and really get people to understand what the perspective is around, why you should be wearing a mask and who it's for, you're wearing that mask for others, and that's a great thing to do. 

So thank you so much.

Mike Marino:

I appreciate it.

For more guidance from small business experts on how to help your business thrive during and after the pandemic, check out the below videos:

• Recovery Tips from Former SBA Chief Karen Mills
• How to Secure Small Business Funding with Regional SBA Director, Bob Nelson
• 4 Essential Steps Your Business Can Take to Kickstart Reopening