Louisiana Offers Web Assistance to Help Businesses ‘Open Safely’

Louisiana will be open for business in the very near future. For a lot of us, that return to what we recall as "normal" can't come soon enough. Although, I believe most of us have resigned ourselves to the fact that "normal" as we remember it will never be again.

Still, Louisiana residents have the need and desire to go to work, worship at the church of their choice, and shop at places of business. We also have a desire to visit those locales knowing that our personal safety has been taken into consideration.

That's where a new website from the State Fire Marshal's Office can really help a business, a church, a public gathering spot if you will, out. The site is OpenSafely.la.gov. And its sole purpose to help businesses and churches reopen while keeping their customers or congregations and staff out of harm's way.

Church and business leaders may register at that site for up to the minute bulletins and news as it relates to the state's ever-changing policy regarding the coronavirus pandemic.  The site will offer insights into what phase of recovery the state is in or the best ways to socially distance customers, and what sanitation guidelines are in effect for places where the public might gather.

You and I can also use the website to file complaints about businesses or houses of worship that don't appear to be following the suggested guidelines. Basically the site allows for the rules and accepted protocols to be made public. It also allows for the public to work within those guidelines as we all get set to reopen our state and step out of our homes into a very different looking future.