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COVID Audit Checklist

We know there’s a lot of new protocols to keep track of when preparing for an audit, especially due to additional COVID-19 requirements. See below for a COVID-19 signage checklist to help you prepare for an audit, whether it be internal vs external.

 

WHAT IS AN AUDIT?

It’s an official inspection performed by an auditor to ensure your business is adhering to health, safety and environmental standards.

There are two types of audits, Internal and External. Internal Audits are driven by your company to ensure your business is compliant, while external audits are performed by an outside party.

 

INSPECTION & AUDIT AREAS TO CONSIDER FOR COVID-19 PROTOCOLS:

  1. Housekeeping: Is it clean and sanitized?
  2. Safety & Signs: Compliance, fading, and missing signage (see below for more details)
  3. Schedules & Information
  4. Sickness: Has any staff been diagnosed with COVID-19?
  5. Audit History: Be sure to review historical audit reports, and past action plans to have better insight into what was previously discussed.

* Be sure to check with your internal auditor for a full checklist.

 

 

ENSURE YOU HAVE THESE SIGNS IN PLACE BEFORE AN AUDIT:

□ Are there directional arrows on the floor clearly indicating the flow of traffic?

□ Do you have signage outside your business indicating not to enter if you are sick or have travelled outside of the country within 14 days?

□ Is there signage outside your building displaying the reduced number of people allowed in your facility at one time, and any other protocol changes?

□ If your business is a city where face masks are mandatory, do you have signage displayed outside indicating face masks are mandatory before entry?

□ Are your staff wearing a face shield or mask where a 6ft distance cannot be maintained?
(If you’re in a city where masks are mandatory and your business is considered an indoor public space, this may not apply as your staff will need to continuously wear face coverings.)

□ Are floors marked with appropriate physical distance in areas where lineups occur?

□ Do you have signage outside office spaces, elevators, lunchrooms and other smaller spaces, indicating the reduced number of people allowed in those spaces at one time?

□ If areas where furniture cannot be rearranged, have you added physical barriers such as a counter guard between stations, tables or counters?

□ Have you set up hand washing or sanitizer areas with displayed signage to promote hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette?

 

 

Need signage or tips on where to start implementing COVID-19 protocols?
Check out the blog posts below or give us a call! 

 

> Slow the Spread of COVID-19 With Temporary Signage

> Outdoor COVID-19 Signage Applications

 

 

 

 

Learn more about COVID-19 protocols here:

https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection/health-professionals/public-health-measures-mitigate-covid-19.html#_Workplaces
Read more »

COVID-19 Products

With businesses reopening and companies considering going back to the office, the signage requirements and protocol changes can be overwhelming. To help ease this transition, we've compiled a list of common COVID-19 products and layouts.

We're happy to provide consultation on the specific needs for your space while you navigate through all the protocol changes.

 

FLOOR DECALS

Give a visual representation to workers and visitors on the appropriate spacing for physical distancing.

View products here. 

Removable floor decals to bring awareness to physical distancing

 

 

A-Frames & Tent Cards

Advise workers & visitors of protocol changes with an a-frame or tent card, allowing the option to change locations with ease.

View products here. 

Aframe options for temporary messaging like COVID-19 protocols

 

 

Pylon Signs

Alert workers and visitors to parking or pick up changes.

View products here. 

Pylon Signs

 

Anti-Slip Tape

Available in various colours, our anti-slip rolls are useful for many applications. 

View products here. 

Anti-Slip Tape

 

 

 

Window & Wall Decals

Alert staff and visitors of protocol changes, cleaning procedures, no-contact order pickup and more with these removable decals.

View products here. 

Removable Window & Wall Decals

 

 

Signs & Posters

Alert or remind staff and visitors of protocol changes, to keep their physical distance, and more with these signs and posters.

View products here. 

COVID-19 Signs

 

 

Lawn Signs

Use lawn signs to show your support of essential workers or spread positivity.
$2 of every lawn sign sold will be donated to TC Energy's Better Together COVID-19 Relief Campaign.
Learn more about their campaign here.

View products here. 

Lawn Sign Fundraiser Layouts

 

 

Free Sign Downloads

We understand budget and resources may be a problem when it comes to purchasing and creating signage. We're offering some free templates to print on your home or office printer.
Layouts are also available for purchase as signs or removable window or wall decals. Templates can be customized for signs and decals.

View products here. 

Free COVID-19 Signage

 

 

Hand Sanitizer

Alberta health authorities are urging to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 and IDENT is doing our part with signage – and now hand sanitizer.
We’ve partnered with Prime Boiler Services Ltd to provide cost-effective hand sanitizer in 3 different sizes.

View products here. 

Hand Sanitizer in 3 sizes

 

 

Face Shields

Looking at the various needs, we developed 2 styles both with branding options to allow you to communicate your own message. One of the masks provides you with the ability to easily replace just the shield portion while keeping the branded headpiece!
Replacement shield options also available.

View products here. 

Health Canada Face Shields

 

 

Face Masks

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now recommending the use of Cloth Face coverings in public settings where physical distancing is difficult to maintain (such as grocery stores or even some work environments) to help control the spread of COVID-19.

We recently came across a “friend” from our community who is putting a stylish twist on supporting the cause whilst trying to supplement their income during these trying times. We love a feel-good story and always support win-win-win situations so we have asked them if we could help get the word out and offer to sell their handmade masks for them.

All masks are hand sewn with pleats for maximum comfort and coverage and are double sided with a pattern on one side and a solid color on the other.

View products here. 

 

 

 

Counter Guards

Need an extra layer of protection between employees and customers? Counter guards help maintain social distancing rules and reinforce public health practices. 
Different options and styles available: Acrylic & Polycarbonate options, barriers with feet to allow for portability, notch style barriers with connectors, barriers with hinges and more.

In-stock & custom options available.

View products here. 

Counter Guards

 

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COVID-19 Lawn Sign Fundraiser

We know essential workers are making sacrifices for us and our loved ones. That’s why we’ve created lawn signs for purchase, so we can all display our support loud and proud.

Two dollars from every lawn sign sold will be donated to TC Energy's Better Together COVID-19 Relief Campaign. TC Energy will match donations by 200% which means $6 for every lawn sign is going towards Breakfast Club of Canada, United Way's Local Love in a Global Crisis, and UNICEF Canada's Global Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak Response.


Show your appreciation in more ways than one, and grab a sign (or two).
View Product here.

 

Lawn Sign Fundraiser Layout Options
Purchase your lawn sign here.

 

 

 

Want to know more about TC Energys’ Better Together COVID-19 Relief Campaign?
Click here.

 

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Outdoor COVID-19 Signage Applications

Signage is probably the last thing on your mind when it comes to all the changes you've made and have to make in regard to COVID-19. Signage can have a large impact in helping to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and minimize confusion with procedural changes.

You will need to consider how workers and visitors utilize and navigate your facilities, how frequently you plan to change your messaging elements, and if you will need to move your signage from various locations. 

See below for more information and ideas to implement cost-effective temporary signage options outside your business. 

 

Graphic displaying how to utilize covid-19 signage in the field

FIELD

In the above graphic, we can see the use of sandwich boards indicating the changes when entering the building and site, floor decals to display the proper spacing for physical distancing, and a wall decal alerting customers of the pickup changes.

Sandwich boards are an excellent cost-effective option to communicate with workers and visitors, as the printed sign can be replaced in order to reuse the board for future messaging.

 

Graphic indicating how to use covid-19 signage outside your facility

FACILITY

Above you will see removable decals indicating to couriers the process change on each bay, a removable decal indicating only 5 people are allowed in the building at one time on the entrance door and a sandwich board alerting staff and contractors that they will be screened upon entry.

 

Graphic indicating how to use covid-19 signage outside your warehouse

WAREHOUSE

Our warehouse graphic shows our sandwich board on the left reminding workers and visitors to keep a 6ft distance, while our quad stand on the right indicated procedural changes. Our decal displayed on the windows alerts couriers to call for pickups and deliveries prior to entry.

Quad stands are another great cost-effective option, allowing for the sign to be removed and updated with a new sign.

 

 

Graphic indicating how to use covid-19 signage outside your office building

OFFICE

Utilize the space you have, switching out your current parking signs with customer pickup signs indicating they must call or text you to pick up their item(s). If you don’t have signposts in place, try using a temporary and cost-effective option such as pylon signs, shown with the no parking sign layout. We also see the use of removable decals on the entrance door indicating the new hours of operation and the arrow on the ground reminding workers and visitors to keep a safe distance.

 

We know you might not have the resources or time to put together your own branded COVID-19 signage, so we have a range of standard templates available like all the layouts shown above.
https://identsigns.com/covid-19

 

We're in this together.

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Slow the Spread of COVID-19 with Temporary Signage

We've all memorized the chorus to Staying Alive, whether we wanted to or not, but did you know the chorus is 24 seconds long? Just enough time for a proper handwash.

Things have changed drastically over the last few weeks. Businesses are temporarily closing, many people are working from home, and processes are changing on a global level, in every industry.

It's hard to keep up with constant changes happening for your own business, let alone the rest of the city, and change is hard. The added necessity of physical distancing only adds to the stress. Let's talk about how to make this a little easier for you and those around you.

Here are some simple solutions you can quickly and easily implement to enhance the COVID safety awareness at your warehouse or site, and help reduce the spread of COVID-19.

 

1. Reduce the Number of People in Your Space at One Time

a) Most of us are already practicing this step, but sometimes we can forget or be unaware of different protocol changes. Displaying temporary decals or A-frames at the entrance to your building, site, meeting room or office, quickly reminds staff and visitors of the amount of people allowed in the building, room or site at one time.

Wait Here Floor Decals

 

b) Changing Courier or Customer Pickup Processes
Avoid unnecessary contact with couriers and customers. Use parking lot signage to let customers know that you will deliver products to their vehicle for them. Existing parking lot signage can be covered with temporary signage, making this simple to implement. For your Shipping and Receiving area, try placing an A-frame, decal or sign on or around the door.

avoid unnecessary contact with couriers and customers


 

 

2. Limiting Use in High Traffic Areas

Place A-frames or temporary decals in high congregation/traffic areas, limiting use to 1-2 people at a time, allowing staff and visitors to maintain their 2m distance. You can also add decaling to your washroom mirrors to remind of handwashing or indicate last cleaning or cleaning frequency.

      Cleaning reminders & Social Distancing Floor Decals






3. Use Floor Graphics to Reinforce Your Messaging

In today’s world, people are using their cellphones every day, emailing, texting, browsing the web on a regular basis. Meaning, people are constantly looking down.
Why not reinforce your messaging with temporary floor decals to make sure that even Travis the Texter is aware of protocol changes.

Floor Graphics for COVID-19




 

4. Single User Bathrooms

Most companies and businesses have bathrooms to accommodate multiple users, but continuing this same practice makes it difficult to practice physical distancing. Try placing a temporary decal on the bathroom door, alerting visitors and employees of the change to a single use bathroom.

 

Single User Bathrooms

 

 

Together we can help slow the spread of COVID-19.

View our list of cost-effective COVID-19 signage options here.

 

Read more »

Aluminum, Recycling's Best Friend

Most people know aluminum by its common uses like aluminum foil or cans, but at IDENT we know aluminum because of the signs we work with every day.

Aluminum is one of the most abundant metals on the planet. It takes a lot less energy to recycle aluminum than manufacturing new metals and can be recycled indefinitely, which is why Aluminum is the most commonly recycled non-ferrous* metal.

When it comes to recycling scrap metal, the list of benefits for the environment and the economy is quite long. Producing aluminum from recycled metals saves more than 90 percent of the energy needed to create new aluminum from ore. By recycling the bulk of our aluminum, it allows us to leave more natural resources in the earth, lowers the cost of production, and lowers energy usage.

Making products out of used aluminum is now a way for companies to show a commitment to more eco-friendly manufacturing – even Apple is doing it! Apple recently announced that it’s new iPads and Apple Watches would feature portions from 100% recycled aluminum. “We’re pioneering a future where we no longer need to mine precious materials from the Earth to make our products,” Apple said in it’s 2019 Environmental Responsibility Report.

It isn’t hard to see why so many companies have converted to recycled aluminum products. According to The Aluminum Association (an industry group), almost 75% of all the aluminum produced is still in use today.

 

What does this process look like?

Once the metal recycling company receives your scraps, everything first gets sorted according to types of metal. Once the aluminum has been picked out, it is ready to be sorted again, this time by the different grades of aluminum. From there, each grade gets cleaned and then reduced to its pure aluminum form, taking out other contaminants such as plastic along the way. The last step in this process is packing the aluminum and sending it to a company or consumer.

 

How can you contribute to sustainability and recycling metals?

Reduce: When considering substrate choices for your signs, ask for 100% aluminum vs. composite or plastic products.

Reuse: Send in your old sign blanks and ask your sign company to use the backside.

Recycle: You can sell your scrap metals to most metal recycling companies in your area. Check your local scrap metal recyclers website to see what they do and don't accept.

 

It's a no-brainer when it comes to aluminum recycling, so why don't you put some extra money in your pocket by recycling your scrap metals.

 

 

 



*A metal that doesn’t contain iron.

 

References:

http://www.isri.org/ISRI/_About/Scrap_Recycling_Industry/ISRI/_About/Scrap_Recycling_Industry.aspx?hkey=1c15f9cb-6f70-4130-a053-ceba7a327c7f
http://www.cari-acir.org/en/industry.html
https://www.apple.com/environment/pdf/Apple_Environmental_Responsibility_Report_2019.pdf
 
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Internal Messaging

In larger offices, shared workplaces, warehouses and their industrial spaces, we need to make sure visitors can find their way quickly and easily. Wayfinding signage is designed for exactly that purpose – keeping visitors relaxed while going to and from your business.

Well designed wayfinding signage is meant to be minimal, as visual as possible and easy to understand. This ensures that everyone is able to understand it with little confusion, regardless of age or ability.

Types of Wayfinding signage:

Information Signs

Information signs are generally used as the first step in a new environment. They tell visitors where they are/what they will find, but are specific to one area of the property – meaning the information won’t display what they’re likely to find throughout the rest of the area or building.
Examples: standing signs advertising a seminar, plaques or descriptions for meeting rooms or offices, etc

 

Think Big Meeting Room Decal & Muster Point Sandwhich Board

 

 

Identification Signs

Identification signs are used to draw attention or point out a service and/or feature that is of use to the visitor.
Examples: public washroom, reception sign, etc

 

Dimensional Reception Sign & Stair Sign

 

 

Directional Signs

Directional signs encompass the biggest variety of signs, compared to the other wayfinding sign options. Seen more frequently in large or complicated facilities, they allow a visitor to get a full view of the property and can be as specific or as vague as you want, often in the form of maps.
Examples: large digital directional signs, large wall maps, printed maps, elevator/floor description signs

 

Front building directional sign and pop up banner

 

Warning Signs

The most common, warning signs are used solely for making visitors, and employees aware of hazards in the area.
Examples: wet floor signs, fire safety signs, falling ice etc

No Smoking & Visitors Must Report to Office Signs

Customized branded office signage can identify meeting rooms, shared spaces and employee offices - while helping staff and visitors navigate the office, it can also contribute to your company’s overall image and reinforce your brand.

Improve the flow through your workspace with easy-to-use wayfinding signage.

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SDS Hazard Identification

A Safety Data Sheet (SDS) provides basic information on a material or chemical product. It describes the properties and potential hazards of the material, how to use it safely, and what to do in the case of an emergency. The purpose of an SDS is to assist employees in understanding and clarifying this type of information. 

Because they're trying to address all anticipated uses of the product, they provide summarized general information. The information on an SDS is organized into sections, but specific names and content of those sections vary from supplier to supplier. Here is some info on how to make sure your workplace label is accurate.

 

Page 1 of an IDENT Safety Data Sheet

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Internal Branding

You don’t want your customers to stop at the door, so don’t let your branding stop there either. Office signage is a powerful display tool, so take advantage of reinforcing your brand not only outside, but inside your office as well.

External marketing creates a connection between your company and the customers, while Internal marketing fosters a strong company culture. By letting staff develop an emotional and personal connection with the business, it creates an organization that naturally helps its team deliver the brand promise. Internal marketing serves another purpose as well, transforming your employees into brand ambassadors, which means your brand’s story has a broader reach.

Whether it be repeating your company name or logo in your front entrance, displaying your company’s’ core values, or showcasing your favourite company projects, your office (or even retail space) provides multiple opportunities to reinforce your brand and brand messaging.

Take a peek at two examples below, one in our IDENT open office space and the other on a meeting room window at About Staffing. 

                       IDENT Aluminum Sign      About Staffing Window Decal

 

Think of internal branding as a platform that allows your people to embody the core behaviours driving your brand/company. By bringing your company values front and center, employees are constantly reminded of what their company stands for and how to better work on those principles.

We have graphics in our meeting rooms, customer service area and production bay, showing (most) of the behaviours that we embrace every day. View some examples below of some creative ways to display behaviours in your company.

 

     About Staffing Behaviours Window Decal       IDENT Behaviours Wall Decal

 

Whatever your business, whatever your space, interior signage will transform your space.

Don’t leave any surface untouched, walls, windows, floors and even ceilings are fair game for displaying your company logo and message LOUD and clear. There are lots of options, from dimensional logos, to brushed aluminum signs and even wall murals - just like the one here at IDENT showing our companys’ 6 core values.

Tile your logo to create a large mural display, like we did, or take it one step further and let it extend on to the ceiling. The options are pretty much endless!

 

IDENT Core Value Wall

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Magnetic Dry Erase Vinyl

We noticed options for dry erase products have been pretty limited to standard mount to wall whiteboards, giving us the opportunity to develop some new, more customizable, and affordable options. This product gives us the flexibility to make a range of shapes and sizes, print directly on the product and peel and stick to almost any surface. Not to mention - it's magnetic!

 

View the video below for product details and dry erase applications or give us a call and ask us about our new magnetic dry erase vinyl!

 

 

 

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WHMIS 101

The GHS system consists of ten symbols, or pictograms, giving us a quick and easy way to recognize hazards associated with certain substances. 

Think you know them all? Quiz yourself below!

WHMIS 101

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Sign Longevity 102: Abrasion Resistance

Lexan is one of the highest abrasion resistant laminates out there. Great for printed products that will come in contact with tools or have high abrasion needs, like tags or decals found around or on machines, equipment or even printed sandwich boards.

Take a peek at the video below to show how well Lexan laminate holds up to marks and scratches.

 

Next time your project needs a little extra protection, give us a call & we'll handle the rest!

1-800-661-1919

   

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