You’ve been staying socially distant from others for months. No one has crossed that threshold since March. And now you’re getting ready to have movers pack up all your stuff and ship it to somewhere else.
10 Things You Need to Do for a Safe Pandemic PCS
To get yourself ready and keep everyone safe, you should consider doing these 10 simple things.
1. Make Your Wishes Known
Not everyone, unfortunately, is following the same safety precautions. But that shouldn’t mean that your family needs to compromise on safety.
Instead, make your COVID precautions known early and often. Start by letting the move coordinator know what you’re expecting, then repeat that to the company representative.
Post a sign on the door with your expectations for safety: masks, gloves, sanitizer, etc.
Then, remind your movers politely of what you’d like them to do so that you can all stay safe right now.
2. Require Hand Sanitizer
If you can find it, grab a few larger containers of hand sanitizer and station them around the house. Placing sanitizers at your front door, in the kitchen and near the bathroom would be a great start!
3. Offer Masks & Gloves
Not everyone wears masks and gloves or has access to them. To be safe, consider buying a pack of disposable masks and nitrile gloves.
Offer masks and gloves to the movers for your pack-up and your unpack.
Oh, and even though it’s your house, you and your family should mask up for the duration of the packing or unpacking process.
4. Designate a Restroom
You probably already do this, but if you can designate one bathroom just for the movers to use. Stock it with soap, sanitizer, Lysol wipes and disposable paper towels.
5. Pre-Pack as Much as You Can
Whether moving companies will pack Rubbermaid totes as-is or will unpack them and repack them is up to each business. However, many will just pack your pre-boxed household goods without question.
If you’re not comfortable with the movers touching all of your things, consider pre-packing your clothes, kitchen tools and utensils or other high-touch items.
6. Individually Wrapped Snacks & Drinks
Many of us buy the movers pizza or doughnuts as a thank you for a good move. However, it might be smarter this year to buy a bunch of individually wrapped granola bars and stock a cooler with bottles of water.
Less shared food and drinks could mean fewer germs floating around.
7. Shoe Covers to Prevent Germs Walking Around
Stop extra dirt (and germs) from getting tracked inside your house by offering sanitary shoe covers. Mover should use them inside the house as much as possible.
8. Hire a COVID-Safe Sitter
Kids get underfoot during a normal move. But to prevent them from exposure outside your pandemic-safe bubble, consider keeping your children out the house entirely.
Hire a sitter or ask a friend to watch them for the day, if you can.
9. Monitor from a Distance
Getting up close and personal to watch the packers at work isn’t really a thing in 2020. Sure, you should still monitor how things are going, but try to keep your distance.
Check each box before it gets loaded into the truck and ask about what’s in it. Then cross-reference it on your list of items and boxes to be sure.
10. Stocking Up on Cleaners & Wipes
Cleaning has never been more important, especially when you have strangers coming into your home for an extended period of time.
Before the movers come, wipe everything down with a sanitizing cleaner. As people move room to room, consider following them and wiping down any surfaces. When the move is over or if you’re sharing a restroom, wipe it down between users. Basically, clean everything before, during and after!
You’re going to need a lot of Clorox!
