During the COVID-19 pandemic, personal protective equipment (PPE) has become a huge point of conversation for many restaurants. Restaurant owners want to make sure that they’re providing the best protection possible to keep their guests and staff safe. However, with so much information out there, it can be difficult to determine which items are best. Plus, PPE can get expensive quickly, and investing in products that won’t benefit your business is frustrating. Today, we’ve collected some guidelines and advice about the most effective PPE for restaurants so that you can make the most informed decision.
Cloth Masks vs Disposable Masks
Providing disposable masks for your customers is a great way to ensure that customers who don’t bring their own masks are still able to dine in your restaurant. Many restaurants are requiring customers to wear their masks until they’re seated and eating their food.
But there are different types of disposable masks. N95 respirators are the “gold standard” when it comes to masks. However, they’re usually in high demand for healthcare workers, and getting them for your restaurant may mean that those who need them most have a harder time getting access to them. Disposable surgical masks are a great option for making sure you have masks available to staff and customers that don’t have their own.
This brings us to the topic of reusable face masks. Are they effective? There’s not one hard and fast answer when it comes to the effectiveness of cloth face masks, which are often handmade and come from a variety of different sources. For your customers, cloth masks are usually just fine. But you can have at least a bit of control over the masks that your staff wears. Masks that have several layers of filtering material, or a removable and replaceable filter, are the most effective. You can also have your staff layer a disposable mask under their cloth one to ensure that they’re as protected as possible from airborne particles. And make sure that your staff are washing their fabric masks after each wear.
How Effective Are Face Shields?
Face shields have an unmistakable draw due to their unrestrictive nature. They’re more comfortable to wear than masks, too. However, face shields have been proven to be not nearly as effective as traditional face masks. That doesn’t mean that they don’t have a place in your restaurant, though. When worn with a traditional face mask, face shields work to protect your eyes from other particles, providing additional protection.
Gloves are Essential PPE for Restaurants
Gloves are probably already an essential supply for your restaurant. However, their use has become even more important during the COVID-19 pandemic. You may want to consider changing restaurant guidelines when it comes to letting staff know how often they should change their gloves. Changing gloves more frequently means that your staff will cut down the potential of any germs or bacteria to be spread by touch.
We hope these guidelines on COVID best practices when it comes to PPE for restaurants are useful to you!
