Appliance Repair During Quarantine: Safety Precautions to Take
You don’t really understand how vital your appliances are to your quality of life until one breaks down. And during the recent lockdown, people have been using their stoves, dishwashers, washing machines, etc. even more than usual. If something goes wrong, you want it fixed right away. At Dave’s Appliance, we have been open throughout the lockdown as an essential business, and we have made safety precautions part of our repair routine. In this post, we’ll share what we do, and what you can do, to keep yourself and your family safe during an appliance repair in your home.
What We Do – No Exposed Employees
If any of our employees have any symptoms of COVID-19, we encourage them to get tested immediately. They also stay home for 14 days. If any of our employees are informed that they have been exposed to COVID-19, they stay home for 14 days whether or not they have any symptoms.
What We Do – Masks
Whenever we come into a home to do a repair, we wear masks. Masks are designed to protect those encountered more than those wearing them. So wearing a mask is a mark of our respect for our customers. We don’t want to introduce disease into your home.
What We Do – Hand Sanitizer
We have hand sanitizers in our vans; we have hand sanitizer on our persons. We use hand sanitizer before entering your home, and we use it again if the repair takes a while. Hand sanitizer has been demonstrated to kill the COVID-19 virus effectively.
What We Don’t Do – Gloves
At Dave’s Appliance we have chosen not to wear gloves. If they aren’t immediately taken off after every encounter, they can become a source of transmission, and “[g]loves can be a source of contamination if they are not removed properly” (Wisconsin Economic Development Corp). Also, repairing appliances requires a lot of fine manipulation of various mechanical parts. Wearing gloves inhibits our ability to actually do our job quickly and well.
What We Do – Social Distancing
Everybody at Dave’s Appliance is fully committed to social distancing. We will do our best to enter and leave your house without coming within six feet of anyone in your family. When following you to the appliance, we will stay well behind you. When we are working on the appliance, we will announce it if we are going to move out of the vicinity for any reason, giving you notice so social distancing can be maintained.
What You Can Do – Social Distancing
When someone from Dave’s Appliance appears at your door, you can open the door and then move far enough away so that social distancing is maintained. If you can direct us verbally to the room where the appliance is, please do so. If you need to show us, remember that we won’t be right on your heels. It’s best if you and any other members of your family can stay out of the room where we’re working on your appliance. If that’s not possible, do your best to stay six feet away from our repairman.
What You Can Do – Clean Surfaces
It shouldn’t be necessary, but if you are concerned, you could wipe down any surfaces that our repairman has come in contact with after we leave. That would mean any door handles that we may have touched, and of course, the appliance itself. Again, because of our precautions, this step isn’t strictly needed, but you’re certainly welcome to do it if you’re worried.
You shouldn’t struggle along without a functioning stove or washing machine because of fear of COVID-19. With reasonable precautions, Dave’s Appliance has been fixing appliances throughout this time. We can fix yours too.
