Social Distancing in Emergencies
Social Distancing in Emergencies
The UK Government’s guidance for working safely during Covid-19 states that “in an emergency, for example an accident or fire, people do not have to stay 2m apart if it would be unsafe”.
Covid-19 secure guidelines have the potential to change the fire risk profile of an organisation and the potential issues of workplace configurations during the pandemic will need to be taken into account from a fire safety perspective.
As there is a potential for change to the fire risk profile, organisations will need to review the fire risk assessment to ensure it identifies such changes and analyse the risk from the changes.
Social Distancing in Emergencies. Examples of such changes are:
The Fire Emergency Plan for the premises will need to be reviewed as part of the fire risk assessment review. Key issues in relation to social distancing are evacuation through means of escape that prevent social distancing, the evacuation of those who require assistance and the assembly point.
It is recognised that social distancing may not be possible during an evacuation due to the configuration of the means of escape. Organisations should not introduce any measures to mitigate this that make evacuation unsafe, for example by delaying evacuation.
A particular challenge may be social distancing where assistance is provided to those who require support to evacuate safely. Any Personal Emergency Egress Plan/s (PEEP) will need to be reviewed. In doing so, the organisation should take into account current official fire safety guidance and the UK Government Covid-19 secure guidelines in relation to those with “protected characteristics”.
Where close contact is necessary, immediate hygiene measures should be adopted for all those involved following the evacuation.
Assembly points
Assembly points assist in the control of occupants who have evacuated as well as enabling on-going communication and roll-call procedures, for example. The organisation should review the use of the assembly point and determine if social distancing can be maintained or whether alternative measures are required.
This could include the use of additional assembly points, marking the ground for social distancing, controlling dispersal, etc.
If you would like to have your fire risk assessment reviewed or have a new one created please contact us.
Stay Safe!
Online training
Since the UK lockdown due to COVID-19, classroom-based training has largely halted. Delegates sit indoors in very close proximity for long periods of time. There are additional risks associated with using public transport and mingling at break times. In short, classrooms can be petri dishes. Online training avoids these risks and, according to our beloved principles of prevention, should be considered before options such as distancing or barriers. It is also questionable how many delegates could fit into a venue if they must be physically distant.
There are subjects for which face-to-face training is unavoidable. If online training is an option, it is worth considering the benefits and potential pitfalls.
In the current climate of home working and skeleton staff in the workplace due to COVID-19, we look at the benefits of online training and the advantages that are offered. These include:
Delivering training online undoubtedly has potential pitfalls such as being let down by, or being unable to use, the technology. The pitfalls can be avoided or managed with some simple steps.
Many organisations have little option but to consider online training. Rather than being an undesirable substitute, this approach offers tremendous benefits and could become the new normal regardless of how COVID-19 plays out.
Getting the best from it requires an initial investment of time and effort. As with most things in life, the more you put in, the more you’ll get out.
Contact us for your training needs.
Keep Safe!
The Government have published guides to help businesses to open and work safely in regards to COVID-19. Some businesses may need more than one of the guides to ensure people are safe.
Looking through the guides they all offer similar solutions. Here we look at the top ten items to consider for your business in relation to the risk assessment.
We began the COVID-19 crisis light-heartedly washing our hands while singing a double rendition of ‘happy birthday’, but as the virus continues to hit hard, we find that hand hygiene remains front and centre. The science tells us adequate hand washing is effective but also simple, logical and cheap. It is difficult to imagine a reasonable excuse for an employer that fails in this respect.
While there have long been legal requirements to consult with employees, COVID-19 as a risk has grabbed the attention like few other hazards. The risk assessment reinforces the importance of worker input: ‘make sure you talk to your workers and their representatives to explain the measures you are taking. They can also provide valuable information on how you could control the risks’. Employers ignore this at their peril.
Social distancing is becoming an increasingly elastic concept; sometimes two metres, sometimes ‘one metre plus’ and differing throughout the UK. The document reminds employers that local rules may differ which highlights the importance of nationwide organisations remaining abreast of local updates and being agile and responsive to changes at short notice.
Virtually all jobs have changed in some way. Many of our new working practices are no doubt here to stay. There is a hint of this in the new document, which encourages the increased use of online meeting facilities, even when people are working in the same building.
Good ventilation is another basic control measure to reduce the risk. This is reflected in the risk assessment, which suggests propping open non-fire doors to improve air circulation, ushering in another important point: COVID-19 control measures should not adversely impact pre-existing safety regimes. Consider having the company fire risk assessment reviewed in light of these changes.
The document takes a huge step forward in identifying the detrimental impact of the pandemic on our collective mental health and well being. While the focus is on planning for those coming back into workplaces, huge numbers are still working from home and the importance of contact, time management and fatigue are among the hazards highlighted.
Thinking about those remote workers, the assessment also highlights the musculoskeletal disorders risked by lengthy DSE use at home. The HSE maintains that ‘there is no increased risk for people working at home temporarily’ but there is no question that this pandemic is testing the bounds of what ‘temporarily’ really means.
The all-encompassing task facing employers is laid bare by the need to identify those within the workforce who are vulnerable or clinically extremely vulnerable. The suggested control measures include an in house individual assessment of these employees and a discussion to identify what is needed in each case. Consider management and HR (If applicable) reviews.
Once again we see the attempt to stretch health and safety law beyond its typical boundaries. In identifying occasions when social distancing may be difficult, employers’ control measures are said to include the provision of facilities to keep people from public transport and creating working cohorts of those who already travel to work together.
The very last point, face coverings. These are ‘not required to be worn in the workplace’ but ‘where people choose to wear them you should support them’. The government guidance for those in close contact sectors such as hairdressing now requires the wearing of visors to ‘provide a barrier between the wearer and the client from respiratory droplets caused by sneezing, coughing or speaking’. Of course face coverings are also now mandatory on public transport too. Logically there is an acceptance that simple barriers (not PPE) have a part to play in reducing the transmission risk and a more sweeping change in the existing non-committal position feels almost inevitable.
Contact us if you require further information.
Keep safe!
(This blog was correct at time of release)
The World Health Organization (WHO) has published new advice for the public on when and how to wear masks safely.
The guidance covers fabric masks and medical masks, describing who should wear what type of mask and when.
Face coverings have become mandatory in some shops and supermarkets in England. In terms of the law, in England, people are required to wear face coverings:
Some key points for fabric masks include the following.
In addition, the WHO has advised the public of the following Don’ts with regard to fabric masks.
Don’t use a mask that looks damaged.
Don’t wear a loose mask.
Don’t wear your mask under the nose.
Don’t remove the mask where there are people within a metre.
Don’t use a mask that is difficult to breathe through.
Don’t wear a dirty or wet mask.
Don’t share your mask with others.
With thanks to The World Health Organization (WHO)
Contact us if you want to discuss Covid-19 risk assessments, social distancing signage or hand sanitiser.
Stay Safe!
Why should we pay attention to housekeeping at work?Effective housekeeping can eliminate some workplace hazards and help get a job done safely and properly. Poor housekeeping can frequently contribute to accidents by hiding hazards that cause injuries. If the sight of paper, debris, clutter and spills is accepted as normal, then other more serious health and safety hazards may be taken for granted.
Housekeeping is not just cleanliness. It includes keeping work areas neat and orderly; maintaining halls and floors free of slip and trip hazards; and removing of waste materials (e.g., paper, cardboard) and other fire hazards from work areas. It also requires paying attention to important details such as the layout of the whole workplace, aisle marking, the adequacy of storage facilities, and maintenance. Good housekeeping is also a basic part of accident and fire prevention.
Effective housekeeping is an ongoing operation. By keeping the work area consistently tidy can show the company are serious about keeping employees and others safe. Periodic “panic” clean ups are costly and ineffective in reducing accidents.
Poor housekeeping can be a cause of accidents, such as:
To avoid these hazards, a workplace must “maintain” order throughout the working day.
Effective housekeeping results in:
A good housekeeping program plans and manages the orderly storage and movement of materials from point of entry to exit. The plan also ensures that work areas are not used as storage areas by having workers move materials to and from work areas as needed.
Housekeeping order is maintained not achieved. This means removing the inevitable messes that occur from time to time and not waiting until the end of the shift to reorganize and clean up. A good housekeeping program identifies and assigns responsibilities for the following:
Don’t forget places such as shelves, basements and boiler rooms that would otherwise be overlooked. The orderly arrangement of operations, tools, equipment and supplies is an important part of a good housekeeping program.
The final addition to any housekeeping program is inspection. It is the only way to check for deficiencies in the program so that changes can be made. Walker Health and Safety Services can carry out workplace inspection.
Contact Walker Health and Safety Services should you require further information.
