1. Employees and Risk Assessment
Engage with your staff and review your risk assessments together:
- Ensure everyone is clear on their role and the procedures
- Set up steps to monitor that your controls are followed every day. Record what you have done to monitor.
- Think about the need for work cohorts (bubbles).
- Make sure everyone can get to work and return home safely.
2. Utility Services
Ensure utility services (e.g. gas, electricity or water supplies) are safe for re-opening. Water stagnation can occur due to lack of use, increasing risk of Legionnaires disease. Review risk assessment and manage Legionella risks before you re-start using:
- the water system
- air conditioning units
3. Ventilation
There must be an adequate supply of fresh air (ventilation) in enclosed areas of your workplace. Identify poorly ventilated areas and maximise ventilation by:
- Natural ventilation – open windows, doors (excluding fire doors), and air vents
- Mechanical ventilation – use fans and ducts to bring in air from outside
- A combination of both
4. Hand hygiene and Cleaning
Provide enough alcohol-based hand gel stations throughout the business for employees and customers to maintain cleans hands. It's important to maintain clean hands throughout the working day.
Design a cleaning schedule and train staff on its implementation. Include:
- Work areas
- Staff rooms
- Canteens
- Toilets
- Equipment
- Frequent touch points (door handles, trollies, baskets, handheld devices etc)
Ensure these areas are cleaned and disinfected during the workday.
5. Prepare for Physical Distancing
You are required to keep a 2-metre physical distance between all persons to minimise COVID-19 transmission. Remember to identify pinch points and busy areas.
Consider how you will:
- Limit customer numbers into a shop at one time
- Manage queues inside and outdoors e.g. 2m interval floor markings
- Mark 2m intervals on the floor inside
- Introduce safe routes i.e. One-way systems
- Remind customers of physical distancing i.e. tannoy announcements or taped messages
- Highlight pinch points and busy areas with signs to remind about physical distancing
- Screen at service counters
- Stagger start times, finish times and breaks