PENNSAUKEN, N.J. — Williams Trading Co. has shared tips on how retailers can build inexpensive barriers for cash registers and checkout areas.
The cash register, said a rep, “has emerged as the most dangerous place in the store, according to public health and worker safety experts. Every item cashiers touch, scan and bag has been handled by customers and other workers.”
Retailers have been stepping up their safety measures as the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) guidance on the virus evolves. Many stores have installed guards at checkout lanes and added social distancing markers in lines.
Retailers are also “limiting the number of customers inside the store at one time and are sanitizing checkout stations frequently. Companies are also expanding the use of contact-free payment options so customers don’t have to touch screens or enter their pins.”
The best practice for adult store owners, the rep continued, is “to maintain social distancing and install additional safety measures at the cash register in the form of barriers.”
According to Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist and health economist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, cashiers “need N95 masks as much as health care workers.” He believes that all stores also need to give their cashiers face shields because many coronavirus carriers are asymptomatic.
Williams Trading suggests helping maintain social distance and physical separation while protecting from splashes and sprays with clear plastic barriers.
“Plexiglass sneeze guards, splash guards, cashier shields and other clear partitions are more important than ever. Many online resources are available to order plexiglass barriers or sneeze guards,” the rep said.
For more tips on building inexpensive barriers for cash registers and checkout areas, visit the Williams Trading blog.
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