by BFFF
Jul 15th, 2021
10 mins
BFFF

This Guidance is designed to be relevant for people who work in or run factories, plants, warehouses, labs, research facilities, offices, contact centres, or operations rooms.

Covid-19 Cleaning in non-healthcare settings outside the home although dated October 2020 still applies

Factories, plants and warehouses include industrial environments such as:

  • manufacturing and chemical plants
  • food and other large processing plants
  • warehouses
  • distribution centres
  • port operations

This document gives you guidance on how to open workplaces safely while reducing the risk of spreading COVID-19. It provides practical considerations of how to apply this in the workplace.

You will need to translate this into the specific actions you need to take. These will depend on the nature of your business, including the size and type of business, how it’s organised, operated, managed and regulated. You will also need to monitor these measures to make sure they continue to protect customers and workers.

This guidance does not supersede your existing legal obligations relating to health and safety, employment and equalities duties. It’s important that as a business or an employer you continue to comply with your existing obligations. This includes those relating to equality between individuals with different protected characteristics. This contains non-statutory guidance to take into account when complying with these existing obligations.

Remember this guidance does not just cover your employees. You must also take into account customers, agency workers, contractors and other people. To help you decide which actions to take, you must carry out an appropriate assessment. This risk assessment must be done in consultation with unions or workers. You may also want to consult industry representatives.

From Step 4 the government is no longer instructing people to work from home if they can, so employers can start to plan a return to workplaces. During this period of high prevalence, the government expects and recommends a gradual return over the summer.

You should discuss a return to the workplace with workers, and trade unions to make working arrangements that meet both business and individual needs. This guidance applies from Step 4. It’s been published so that you can use it to inform your planning and business operations from 19 July onwards.

You should follow the current guidance until 19 July:

A new COVID-19 variant is spreading in some parts of England. There may be additional advice for your area. Find out what you need to do.

As an employer, you must by law protect workers and others from risks to their health and safety. This includes risks from COVID-19COVID-19 is a workplace hazard. You must manage it in the same way as other workplace hazards.

1. Complete a health and safety risk assessment that includes the risk from COVID-19

Failure to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment and put in place sufficient control measures to manage the risk may be considered a breach of health and safety law.

Complete a risk assessment, considering the measures set out in this guidance. Also consider reasonable adjustments needed for staff and customers with disabilities. Share it with all your staff. Keep it updated.. Find out how to do a risk assessment. Your risk assessment will help you decide if you have done everything you need to. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has tools to support you. You should also consider the security implications of any decisions and control measures you intend to put in place. Any revisions could present new or altered security risks you may need to mitigate.

You do not have to write anything down as part of your risk assessment if you:

  • have fewer than 5 workers
  • are self-employed.

However, you may still find it useful to do so.

2. Provide adequate ventilation

You should make sure there is a supply of fresh air to indoor spaces where there are people present. This can be natural ventilation through opening windows, doors and vents, mechanical ventilation using fans and ducts, or a combination of both. You should identify any poorly ventilated spaces in your premises and take steps to improve fresh air flow in these areas. In some places, a CO2 monitor can help identify if the space is poorly ventilated. Read the advice on air conditioning and ventilation on the HSE website.

3. Clean more often

It’s especially important to clean surfaces that people touch a lot. You should ask your staff and your customers to use hand sanitiser and to clean their hands frequently.

4. Turn away people with COVID-19 symptoms

Staff members or customers should self-isolate if they or someone in their household has a persistent cough, a high temperature or has lost their sense of taste or smell. They must also self-isolate if they or a close contact has had a positive COVID-19 result, or if they have been told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace. If you know that a worker is self-isolating, you must not allow them to come to work. It’s an offence to do this.

5. Enable people to check in at your venue

You’re no longer legally required to collect customer contact details, but doing so will support NHS Test and Trace to contact those who may have been exposed to COVID-19 so that they can book a test. You can enable people to check in to your venue by by displaying an NHS QR code poster. You do not have to ask people to check in or turn people away if they refuse. If you choose to display a QR code, you should also have a system in place to record contact details for people who want to check in but do not have the app.

6. Communicate and train

Keep all your workers, contractors and visitors up-to-date on how you’re using and updating safety measures.

These are the priority actions to make your business safer during coronavirus, you should also read the full version of the guidance.

See guidance for WalesScotland, and Northern Ireland

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