Question: How can you safely social distance if you work in a lab or research facility?

Answer passage (source: UK):
page_title: Labs and research facilities
section_headers: 3. Social distancing at work
section_content: In this section

3.1 Coming to work and leaving work
3.2 Moving around buildings and worksites
3.3 Workplaces and workstations
3.4 Meetings
3.5 Common areas
3.6 Accidents, security and other incidents

Objective: To maintain 2m social-distancing wherever possible, including while
arriving at and departing from work, while in work, and when travelling
between sites.
It will not always be possible to keep a distance of 2m in labs and R&D
facilities that may be designed for close-proximity collaboration. Fixed
equipment may mean that changing layouts to create more space may not be
practical.
Where the social distancing guidelines cannot be followed in full in relation
to a particular activity, businesses should consider whether that activity
needs to continue for the business to operate, and, if so, take all the
mitigating actions possible to reduce the risk of transmission between their
staff. Mitigating actions include:

increasing the frequency of hand washing and surface cleaning
keeping the activity time involved as short as possible
using screens or barriers to separate people from each other
using back-to-back or side-to-side working (rather than face-to-face) whenever possible
reducing the number of people each person has contact with by using ‘fixed teams or partnering’ (so each person works with only a few others)

Social distancing applies to all parts of a business, not just the place where
people spend most of their time, but also entrances and exits, break rooms,
canteens and similar settings. These are often the most challenging areas to
maintain social distancing.
*[R&D]: research and development

Reviewer feedback on this answer:
This answer relates to labs and facilities and thus makes it a well suited answer for the question.
While the information in this response was helpful and useful, I don't feel like it reads well. It isn't as clear and easily understandable as the first two responses.

Reviewer ratings:
Excellent
Acceptable

Answer passage (source: UK):
page_title: Labs and research facilities
section_headers: 3. Social distancing at work
3.2 Moving around buildings and worksites
section_content: Objective: To maintain social-distancing wherever possible, while people
travel through the workplace.
Steps that will usually be needed:


Reducing movement by discouraging non-essential trips within buildings and sites, for example, restricting access to some areas, and encouraging use of radios or telephones, where permitted, and cleaning them between use.


Removing access controls on low category labs so that people do not have to use access cards.


Restricting access between different areas of a building or site, if possible.


Using fixed teams or adjusting booking processes to reduce the number of people in a lab at the same time to avoid overcrowding.


Introducing more one-way flow through buildings, paying particular attention to long corridors which can be more common in laboratory buildings.


Reducing maximum occupancy for lifts, providing hand sanitiser for the operation of lifts and encouraging use of stairs wherever possible.


Making sure that people with disabilities are able to access lifts.


Regulating use of high traffic areas including corridors, lifts, turnstiles and walkways to maintain social-distancing.



Example lift practices.

Reviewer feedback on this answer:
This answer, while not specifically catered to labs and facilities, does apply to any common work area.
While this response was geared toward the regular workplace, there were tips included for labs, and the information provided would be good for labs in addition to a regular workplace.

Reviewer ratings:
Acceptable
Excellent

Answer passage (source: UK):
page_title: Labs and research facilities
section_headers: 3. Social distancing at work
3.5 Common areas
section_content: Objective: To maintain social-distancing while using common areas. Modern lab
and research buildings are often designed with many common areas to encourage
collaboration and networking.
Steps that will usually be needed:


Staggering break times to reduce pressure on break rooms or places to eat.


Using safe outside areas for breaks.


Creating additional space by using other parts of the worksite or building that have been freed up by remote working.


Installing screens to protect staff in receptions or similar areas.


Providing packaged meals or similar to avoid opening staff canteens.


Encouraging workers to bring their own food.


Reconfiguring seating and tables to maintain spacing and reduce face-to-face interactions.


Encouraging staff to remain on-site and, when not possible, maintaining social distancing while off-site.


Regulating use of locker rooms, changing areas and other facility areas to reduce concurrent usage.


Encouraging storage of personal items and clothing in personal storage spaces, for example lockers, during working hours.



Reviewer feedback on this answer:
This answer relates to the lab and research facility setting, and thus makes it the most relevant answer.
This response was great because there was a bunch of information. With 10 tips included there are a bunch of options to help with social distancing in a lab setting.

Reviewer ratings:
Excellent
Excellent