As the UK starts to open up again after the latest lockdown, is your business ready for a return to some form of a new normal? Have you reviewed your training records and requirements? Have you changed your rota patterns or the staff that are based in your buildings, and has this left you with gaps in your cover for first aid and health and safety on-site?
There are many things to think about.
What has changed?
Many organisations have used the time during lockdown to train their staff and we have been delivering courses throughout the pandemic to help them. Our courses have also been updated to include the latest guidelines on how you should administer CPR due to Covid-19 and update your procedures.
With updated courses and online provision available it is a great time to refresh or train your staff before the lockdown ends.
Legal requirements
One thing that we have found is that many businesses haven’t keep abreast of their training requirements and may need to fit in some training. In particular, the HSE hasn’t granted any further extensions to first aid qualifications, so many businesses need to check and ensure that all the relevant staff have a valid first aid qualification by 31st March 2021.
As we have already mentioned, if you have different staff on-site to when you last reviewed your obligations to health and safety, you may want to do another review to ensure that you have sufficient cover. We are aware that the HSE and local authorities have been visiting premises to check that obligations are being met, so don’t get caught out.
Contact us now to discuss your requirements. Remember, fully trained staff can save your business time and money in the long term and can prevent heavy fines or even a jail sentence for the business owner.
Premise changes
If you have altered your premises layout or have moved premises then you should review your current fire safety risk assessment and update it where appropriate.
You may also have implemented more hygiene routines and equipment. Have you introduced sanitising stations or points in your buildings and new cleaning regimes with new products? If you have these will need adding to your COSHH register and you will need to ensure that all staff are aware of the changes.
Return to work discussions
When your staff are returning to your premises it might be beneficial to conduct a ‘return to work’ style induction that explains the measures you have put in place to keep everyone safe, and update them on any changes and new procedures that have been introduced. It may also help calm any anxiety about being back in the workplace and ease the transition.
Office-based staff that haven’t been in the office for some time may also need to do a desk assessment to ensure that everything is set up correctly for them. A Display Screen Equipment (DSE) assessment ensures correct positioning of chair/monitor/keyboard etc. This is especially important if the furniture has been moved around to assist social distancing.
You can download a copy of a checklist from the HSE website here:
https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/ck1.pdf
Walkways and exits should also be checked for clean and safe passage.
These small measures will ensure a safe and happy return to the workplace for all.