Our Community Responds: Advice for Field Technicians in the Midst of COVID-19
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The staff and leadership of the Specialty Coffee Association and affiliated guilds are carefully monitoring developments related to the ongoing COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) outbreak to understand its potential impact on our global community and activities. This blog post is part of a series of articles and other content written by members of our community, reflecting on the current COVID-19 pandemic and how it’s affecting their work and livelihoods.
By Sharla Holladay, CTG Leadership Council, Co-owner of Best Beverage Equipment
I heard about factory shutdowns at the onset of COVID-19 and instantly, I knew it was going to change the face of business in a big way. These things just ripple: Even if it were to have stayed in China, it would have rippled throughout the world and to our community in some ways. My primary objective was to stay as informed as possible and try to keep everyone in our company calm and devoid of drama. (That went a bit smoother in my head than it did in real life.)
At Best Beverage, we manage commercial beverage equipment maintenance programs across a large swath of the United States. We have technicians putting themselves out in risky public situations daily and have for 20 years.
When I was asked to write a blog post about how we as a company are addressing this new virus situation with our technicians, it wasn’t hard for me to take that ball and run with it. I've been preaching preventative maintenance and proactive care for beverage equipment and human bodies for many years. We have exercise challenges, provide cold and flu preventatives to employees, encourage extra water intake, handwashing, reducing refined sugar, and packing healthy lunches. These are all normal conversations at Best Beverage. They go hand-in-hand with other safety talks like proper lifting practices and not—for any reason—succumbing to distracted driving.
Now we are faced with a true challenge, above the normal challenges of this career path. How do we keep service technicians safe out in the field when they are being sneezed on in busy restaurants? Or when they’re approached with a "did ya break it?" right in their face while both hands are in a convenience store coffee machine?
Having a company culture with an already healthy immune system itself helps when faced with challenges that can rock our core. If the environment is already positive, supportive, safety-focused, and self-care is a normal topic, people are already listening.
People tend to do what they see others doing; it becomes socially acceptable. So, if technicians are focusing on safety, wearing gloves, wiping down surface points they come in contact with, etc., this encourages others to do the same. The other technician is wearing gloves, versus the company is encouraging you to wear gloves. Which do you think is more powerful?
A healthy mental culture doesn’t just happen. It starts with leadership and it continues with leadership. We have to a) care, b) show that we care, and c) lead by example. Then repeat. Take eyes off the goal of having a happy, healthy company workforce, and it can go sideways in a matter of minutes because it all starts with attitude.
Having an inner company pattern of living and working that is encouraging and uplifting to each other now matters more than ever. I can write a memo every week, or every day for that matter, and it wouldn't be nearly as effective as social suggestion. If we start with a healthy mental attitude at the company as a base, we have less to overcome because people are engaged, listening, sharing and ready.
Below, I’ve shared what we’re recommending to our technicians in this state of emergency. We cover the cost of supplies and many health initiatives. I hope that some value can be gleaned by others in the industry and we can all stay healthy, happy, and productive.
Best Beverage Equipment’s Emergency Recommendations to Their Staff:
Wear disposable gloves when touching common-use surfaces.
Use sanitizing wipes to wipe tools and electronic devices if they have come in contact with common use surfaces
Spray or wipe down to sanitize touch surfaces in your van after it has been serviced or if changing drivers
Avoid touching your face
Avoid large gatherings of people or close contact with anyone outside your inner circle.
Wash your hands often with soap.
Use a paper towel to open doors.
Use hand sanitizer.
Do not shake hands with anyone. Be polite, smile, say something kind.
Wash hands after touching machines or handling any items without gloves.
Wash hands after fueling, considering using a paper towel or sanitizing wipe to touch the fuel pump and the buttons.
When getting a customer signature, consider having a clean paper towel in your pocket to wrap your electronic device with for them to take over holding it so they can sign.
Provide them with a stylus, don’t let them use their finger to sign.
Eradicate the germs that may be on your phone faceplate before putting it up to your face!
Take your own health into your own hands.
For the latest updates on the impacts of COVID-19 on SCA events, visit sca.coffee/covid19.
Would you like to contribute your initiatives to this series? Submit your story idea here: https://scanews.coffee/contact/