Guidance to help employers, employees and the self-employed understand how to work safely during the coronavirus pandemic.
The government, in consultation with industry, has produced guidance to help ensure workplaces are as safe as possible.
These guides cover a range of different types of work. Many businesses operate more than one type of workplace, such as an office, factory and fleet of vehicles. You may need to use more than one of these guides as you think through what you need to do to keep people safe.
Construction and other outdoor work
Guidance for people who work in or run outdoor working environments.
Factories, plants and warehouses
Guidance for people who work in or run factories, plants and warehouses.
Heritage locations
Guidance for people who work or volunteer in heritage locations.
Hotels and other guest accommodation
Guidance for people who work in or run hotels and other guest accommodation
Labs and research facilities
Guidance for people who work in or run indoor labs and research facilities and similar environments.
Offices and contact centres
Guidance for people who work in or run offices, contact centres and similar indoor environments.
Other people’s homes
Guidance for people working in, visiting or delivering to other people’s homes.
Restaurants, pubs, bars and takeaway services
Guidance for people who work in or run restaurants, pubs, bars, cafes or takeaways.
Shops and branches
Guidance for people who work in or run shops, branches, stores or similar environments.
Vehicles
Guidance for people who work in or from vehicles, including couriers, mobile workers, lorry drivers, on-site transit and work vehicles, field forces and similar.
The visitor economy
Guidance for people who work in hotels and guest accommodation, indoor and outdoor attractions, and business events and consumer shows.
Performing arts
Guidance for people who work in performing arts, including arts organisations, venue operators and participants.
Providers of grassroots sport and gym/leisure facilities
Guidance for people who work in grassroots sport and gym/leisure facilities.
Close contact services
Guidance for people who provide close contact services, including hairdressers, barbers, beauticians, tattooists, sports and massage therapists, dress fitters, tailors and fashion designers.
New Critical Workforce Testing Measures
In January 22 the Prime Minister announced that the Government will provide 100,000 critical workers in England with free lateral flow tests to help keep essential services and supply chains running. Critical workers will be able to take a test on every working day and the provision of precautionary testing will be for an initial five weeks.
Check the press release for more detail
Pre-departure testing removed for vaccinated travellers
From 4am on Friday 7 January 22, fully vaccinated adults & under 18s don’t need to take a pre-departure test before entering England.
From 4am on Sunday 9 January 22 eligible fully vaccinated travellers and over 5s will be able to take a lateral flow test instead of a PCR on or before day 2 of their arrival in England.
Unvaccinated passengers must continue to take a pre-departure test, PCR test on or before day 2 and on or after day 8 and self-isolate for 10 days.
Please see this relevant tweet
Confirmatory PCR tests temporarily suspended
Please be aware that new changes are coming into effect from 11 January in England. People who receive positive lateral flow device test results for coronavirus will be required to self-isolate immediately and won’t be required to take a confirmatory PCR test. This is a temporary measure while COVID-19 rates remain high across the UK.
Also see this relevant tweet.
COVID-19 Stakeholder Toolkit
Please see this week’s COVID-19 Stakeholder toolkit.
This week’s key messages are:
- Book your booster jab now: NHS.uk
- Two million jab appointments are available this week.
- Download booster assets to share with your community
- People with a positive LFT now won’t have to take a PCR to confirm their result.
Pregnant women are strongly encouraged to have a first, second or booster COVID-19 vaccination
Register to order coronavirus tests for your employees
The Government is now offering businesses with 50 or more employees access to rapid-flow tests enabling them to screen the whole of their workforce for Covid-19. Sign-up here
Public Health England Work Place testing guidance
Reopen your business safely during coronavirus
Employers that want to reopen their business have a legal responsibility to protect their employees and other people on site. The government have a toolkit to help businesses reopen. view here
East Riding Council Protocol
There is a protocol that applies to all private and Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) settings and volunteer organisations, based or operating from sites located within the East Riding of Yorkshire boundary.
View and download the protocol document here (PDF)
Keeping workers and customers safe in restaurants, pubs, bars and takeaway services
If you are a pub, cafe, restaurant or bar planning on reopening on the 4th July, read the latest government guidance specifically for your sector on keeping workers and customers safe during COVID-19 and being Covid-secure. View here
Face coverings mandatory in shops, supermarkets, shopping centres and enclosed transport hubs
Full details of the announcement can be found here
Updated guidance on face coverings – including how to make your own – can be found here
Managing risks and risk assessment at work
Everyone needs to manage the risks of coronavirus.
If you are an employer you also have a legal responsibility to protect workers and others from risk to their health and safety.
A risk assessment involves identifying the relevant hazards or risks in your workplace and sensible measures to control these risks.
If you have fewer than 5 workers, or are self-employed, you don’t have to write anything down as part of your risk assessment.
Employers have a duty to consult their people on health and safety: you must consult with the health and safety representative selected by a recognised trade union or a representative chosen by workers.
When considering risk, have particular regard to people who are vulnerable to coronavirus. There are interactive tools available from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to support you with your risk assessments. View here
Travelling to and from work
This guide will help businesses, agencies and others understand how to provide safer workplaces and services for themselves, their workers and passengers across all modes of private and public transport. It outlines measures to assess and address the risks of coronavirus in the transport sector across England. View here
Actions businesses need to take
Consider what type of workplace settings they operate in: Many businesses operate more than one type of workplace, such as operating across an office, a factory and a fleet of vehicles
Read the guidance for each workplace setting you operate within: You should read the guidance (above) for each workplace setting you operate within as there are specific considerations for how to work safely for each.
Carry out a coronavirus risk assessment: To help you decide which actions to take, you should carry out an appropriate coronavirus risk assessment, just as you would for other health and safety related hazards. This risk assessment must be done in consultation with unions or workers.
Translate the guidance into specific actions for your business: Each business will need to translate the guidance into the specific actions it needs to take, depending on the nature of their business, including the size and type of business, how it is organised, operated, managed and regulated. You must consult with the health and safety representative selected by a recognised trade union or a representative chosen by workers.
Translate the guidance into specific actions for your business: Each business will need to translate the guidance into the specific actions it needs to take, depending on the nature of their business, including the size and type of business, how it is organised, operated, managed and regulated. You must consult with the health and safety representative selected by a recognised trade union or a representative chosen by workers.
COVID-19 App
- The NHS COVID-19 app is currently being trialled and will launch on Thursday 24 September in England and Wales, including QR check-in at venues
- QR codes will be an important way for NHS Test and Trace in England to contact multiple people if coronavirus outbreaks are identified in venues
Businesses across England and Wales like pubs, restaurants, hairdressers and cinemas are being urged to ensure they have NHS QR code posters visible on entry so customers who have downloaded the new NHS COVID-19 app can use their smartphones to easily check-in. Further information on the app can be found here.
The move comes ahead of a national launch of the NHS COVID-19 app across England and Wales on Thursday 24 September.
Following the launch of the new COVID-19 app, customers and visitors in England will be able to check-in on entry with their phone instead of filling out a check-in book or tool specific to a business. This will allow NHS Test and Trace to contact customers with public health advice should there be a COVID-19 outbreak.
In England, using QR codes will help businesses meet the new legal requirement to record the contact details of customers, visitors and staff on their premises. With coronavirus cases rising in the UK in the last few weeks it is essential businesses capitalise on the benefits QR codes can bring to protect themselves and their customers.
Create a coronavirus NHS QR code for your venue
Use this service to create a QR code for display in your venue. Get visitors to scan the QR code when they arrive, using the NHS COVID-19 app. This is to help trace and stop the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). View Here
Business Action Cards for spread of Covid-19
The Government has produced action cards giving advice to businesses on how to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and the actions you need to take if you have confirmed cases. View Here
How to do a coronavirus risk assessment on your small business premises
SmallBusiness.co.uk have guidance on what you should know about carrying out a coronavirus-specific risk assessment before your employees return to work. View here
Fire Safety Guidance for Businesses During COVID-19
The latest government guidelines will see many more shops and businesses reopening from 15 June. The return to some sort of normality will be critical to employers, but the fire safety of staff and customers alike should play a ‘key’ part in the ‘unlock’ plan. View here
Growth Hub Support
The Growth Hub is supporting businesses developing a safer working environment:
Grant Funding
Our Business Growth Grants (ERDF) are available if a business wants to work with a Health & Safety consultant – Details here: https://www.growmysme.co.uk/grants/
Webinars
We have run a series of webinars to help businesses during the pandemic, you can view the social distancing in the workplace webinar here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxDo6CIICBY&t=11s
Employee return-to-work tool
The government has developed a tool to help employees in England easily assess if they can return to work. The tool guides employees through questions that may influence their ability to go back to work safely. Employers can share this tool with employees to aid discussion on how employees can return to work safely. Please find out more here
NHS TEST AND TRACE GUIDANCE FOR EMPLOYERS AND BUSINESSES
The NHS Test and Trace service forms a central part of the Government’s COVID-19 recovery strategy. The guidance explains how employers and businesses can play their part in the NHS Test and Trace programme to slow the spread of the virus, protect the health and care system and save lives. You can view and download the Guidance PDF document here:
Test and Trace Guidance for Employers and Businesses
Assets for Test & Trace can be found here:
The PHE campaign resource centre has been updated to include all assets and messages.
Guidance on the Test and Trace service and how it works can be found here: https://bit.ly/testandtracenorth
If someone at work might have coronavirus | Acas
If someone at work might have coronavirus
The government have more guidance for business to test and trace here
ACAS has guidance for businesses who have workers that they believe may have COVID-19 here
5 steps to working safely
- Carry out a COVID-19 risk assessment in line with the HSE guidance
2. Develop cleaning, handwashing and hygiene procedures follow the guidance on hand washing and hygiene
3. Help people to work from home
4. Maintain 2m social distancing, where possible
5. Where people cannot be 2m apart, manage transmission risk
visibility notice:Business and Retailer should display a notice visibly in their workplace, shop windows or outside their store to show their employees, customers and other visitors that they have followed this guidance. The downloadable sign can be found here
Mental Health and Wellbeing of the workforce
Support for employers and individuals during the Coronavirus pandemic
As a result of stressful and uncertain times that Coronavirus has presented, the need to consider the mental wellbeing of you and your employees has never been more important.
There is a guide to offer businesses support and the latest guidance to help you manage this, by signposting the best resources to help you manage this important issue during the crisis.
Drawing upon resources from the NHS, Mind and other recognized bodies and organisations, the guide will help you to navigate the support that is available as well as detailing preventative techniques that individuals use to manage their mental health.
You can view and down load the guide PDF document here:
Mental Health and Wellbeing Resources Pack
Skills Toolkit
You can help support the wellbeing of your employees using The Governments Skills Toolkit . It provides a range of free, high quality digital & numeracy courses, which could benefit both your employees & your business at no cost to you. View here
Psychological first aid in emergencies training for frontline staff and volunteers
Staff and volunteers at the forefront of the national coronavirus response across England will be able to access a new Psychological First Aid training course View here