Builders and shop workers will be encouraged to communicate via radio rather than face to face, employees will be told to work side by side or facing away from each other, and staff will be paired together if they work in close proximity, under draft UK government plans to ease the coronavirus lockdown.
BuzzFeed News has obtained all seven of the guidance documents drawn up by cabinet office minister Michael Gove and business secretary Alok Sharma, that will form the basis for the government’s proposals to get people back to work in the coming weeks.
The documents cover workers in seven different settings: hotel and restaurant staff; those who work in other people’s homes; factory workers; people working outdoors; people working in vehicles; shop workers; and office workers.
Businesses with more than five employees must produce a written risk assessment of working conditions for their staff if they wish to reopen during the pandemic. But even after the first relaxation of some lockdown measures, expected to be announced by Boris Johnson on Sunday, it will remain the case that those who can work from home must continue to do so.
Shielded “extremely vulnerable” people will be banned from any work that isn’t carried out at home. Businesses must help nonshielded “vulnerable” people work from home where possible, or take extra care enforcing social distancing around them in the workplace. Extremely vulnerable individuals are defined as those with specific medical conditions, such as various cancers.
In all seven documents, under a heading on the potential provision of personal protection equipment and facemasks for workers, it says “guidance to follow”.
“It will not always be possible to keep a distance of 2m. In these circumstances both employers and employees must do everything they reasonably can to reduce risk,” the government guidance states.
General guidance for all workplaces
Staggering arrival/departure times to reduce crowding in and out
Providing additional parking or bike racks
Reducing congestion, for example by having more entry points to the workplace.
One for entering the building and one for exiting if possible
Handwashing or hand sanitation at entry and exit points
Alternatives to touch-based security devices such as keypads
Storage for staff clothes and bags
Staff to change into work uniforms on site using appropriate facilities/changing areas
Washing uniforms on site rather than at home
Discouraging nonessential trips within buildings and sites
Reducing job and location rotation, for example, assigning employees to specific floors
Introducing more one-way flow routes through buildings
Reducing maximum occupancy for lifts, providing hand sanitiser for the operation of lifts, and encouraging use of stairs
Regulating use of corridors, lifts, and staircases
Reviewing layouts to allow staff to work further apart from each other
Using floor tape or paint to mark areas to help staff maintain 2 metres
Avoiding employees working face to face — working side by side or facing away from each other where possible
Using screens to create a physical barrier between people where appropriate
Staggering break times to reduce pressure on the break rooms, using outside areas for breaks
Using protective screening for staff in receptions or similar areas
Reconfiguring seating and tables to maintain spacing and reduce face-to-face interactions
Providing packaged meals or similar to avoid opening staff canteens
Hotels and restaurants
Bar areas must be closed
Seated restaurants and cafés must be closed
All food and drink outlets to serve takeaways only
Allowing access to as few people as possible into kitchens
Minimising interaction between kitchen workers and other workers
Putting teams into shifts to restrict the number of employees interacting
Spacing workstations 2 metres apart as much as possible
Minimising access to walk-in pantries, fridges, and freezers, with likely only one person being able to access these areas at one point in time
Minimising contact at “handover” points with other staff, such as when presenting food to serving staff and delivery drivers
Hand sanitiser for visitors
Avoid crowded reception areas, staggering check-in and check-out times
Carrying out contractor services at night
Considering room occupancy levels to maintain social distancing, especially in dormitories
Minimising contact between kitchen and food preparation workers and delivery drivers
Using front of house staff to serve customers in walk-in takeaways, with tills 2 metres away from the kitchen and ideally separated by a wall or partition
Creating a physical barrier between front of house workers and customers
Using contactless card payments
Limiting access to premises for people waiting for takeaways. Asking customers to wait in their cars
Asking customers to order online, on apps or over the telephone
Workers in other people’s homes
Discussing with households ahead of a visit to ask that a 2-metre distance is kept
Asking that households leave all internal doors open
Identifying busy areas across the household where people travel to, from or through, for example, stairs and corridors
Limiting the time spent in close proximity to no more than 15 minutes
Bringing your own food and drink to households
Limiting the number of workers within a confined space
Using a consistent pairing system if people have to work in close proximity
Allocating the same workers to a household where jobs are repetitive
Where multiple workers are in a home, creating fixed teams of workers who carry out their duties in those teams
Identifying areas where people need to hand things to each other and find ways to remove direct contact
Allocating the same worker to the same household each time there is a visit, e.g. cleaners
Using electronic payment methods and electronically signed and exchanged documents.
Factories and warehouses
Ask for who it is essential to be on site — office staff should stay home
Planning for the minimum number of people needed on site
Providing equipment for employees to work from home safely and effectively — for example, laptops
Servicing and adjusting ventilation systems
Frequent cleaning of work areas and equipment
Frequent cleaning and disinfecting of objects and surfaces
Clearing workspaces and removing waste at the end of a shift
Cleaning procedures for equipment, tools, and vehicles after each shift and after each use of shared equipment — for example, pallet trucks and forklift trucks
Hand sanitiser for employees to use boarding vehicles or handling deliveries
Regular cleaning of reusable delivery boxes
Shops and branches
Defining the number of customers that can follow 2-metre social distancing within the store
Taking into account total floor space as well as likely pinch points and busy areas
Limiting the number of customers at any one time
Suspending or reducing some customer services
Encouraging customers to shop alone
Informing customers who are accompanied by children that they are responsible for supervising them at all times
Using outside premises for queuing
Communicating with nearby premises to manage shared queueing areas
Shopping centres should take responsibility for regulating the number of customers in the centre
Continuing to keep customer restaurants and/or cafés closed until further notice, unless offering hot or cold food to be consumed off the premises
Providing clear guidance to people on arrival
Creating social distancing “champions” to demonstrate social distancing guidelines to customers
Staggered collection times for customers collecting items
Setting up no-contact return procedures
Cashless refunds
Keeping returns separate from displayed merchandise
Offices
Office staff should work from home if at all possible.
Employees in roles critical for business can go in
Employees who cannot work from home due to home circumstances can go in
Planning for the minimum number of people needed on site
Monitoring the wellbeing of employees who are working from home
Keeping in touch with off-site employees including welfare, mental and physical health and personal security
Review layouts, line setups, or processes to let employees work further apart
Arranging for employees to work side-by-side or facing away from each other
Screens to create a physical barrier between people
Floor tape or paint to mark areas to help employees keep to a 2-metre distance
Avoiding use of hot desks and spaces
Limiting use of high-touch items and shared office equipment
Using remote working tools, to avoid in-person meetings
Avoiding transmission during meetings, avoiding sharing pens
Only necessary participants should attend meetings
Hand sanitiser in meeting rooms
Holding meetings in well-ventilated rooms
Limiting or restricting occupancy in group interaction spaces
For areas where regular meetings take place, using floor signage to help people maintain social distancing
Working outdoors
Only workers deemed necessary to carry out physical work or supervision should physically attend
Changing layouts to let workers work further apart
Using screens to separate people from each other
Using a consistent pairing system if people have to work in close proximity
Avoiding employees working face to face — for example, by working side by side or facing away from each other
Working in a vehicle
Reducing the number of employees at base depots or distribution centres at a given time
Scheduling times for the collection of goods
Loading onto vehicles without interacting with driver
Reducing job/location rotation
Finding alternative solutions to two-person delivery
Minimising the contact during payments and exchange of documentation
Single person/contactless refuelling where possible
Physical screening if safe
Using a fixed pairing system if people have to work in close proximity
Making sure vehicles are well ventilated
Ensure regular cleaning of vehicles
Using no-contact deliveries wherever possible
Scheduling to limit exposure to large crowds and rush hours
Revising pick-up and drop-off collection points
No-contact deliveries where the nature of the product allows
Maximising use of electronic paperwork