‘As lockdown eases and businesses, schools and retail go back to work, there is a whole new requirement to ensure your organisation is COVID-19 Secure. This means, that you are doing everything legally required to make your workplace as safe as possible. Failure to achieve a COVID-19 secure work environment risks public health, business reputation and a media catastrophe.’
JCH Safety, are a leading Coventry based Chartered Occupational Safety and Health practice working with businesses and schools to help them through the pandemic. We have helped manufacturing companies back to work during the first phase, along with internet business to keep selling their goods during the crisis. As the next phase of lockdown easing approaches ,JCH Safety wants to help more businesses to get back on their feet as soon as possible. This is not something to rush and it needs a sensible, planned and compliant strategy to do this. We advise organisations to take professional guidance from Chartered health and safety practitioners such as JCH Safety.
This blog offers some help to companies to develop their COVID-19 compliance and we are happy to be giving away some really useful FREE COVID-19 signage pack of notices and posters for your business.
How to become COVID-19 secure?
As part of making your business COVID-19 secure, it is important that you:
- Carry out a COVID-19 risk assessment
- Have cleaning and handwashing procedures in place
- Help people to work from home (where possible)
- Maintain social distancing
- Mitigate risks where social distancing cannot be achieved.
There is a lot to achieving this. Once you have achieved this you must display the below poster.
Click here or click on the image above to view and download your free copy of the JCH Safety staying safe COVID-19 poster for workplaces. (Opens in new tab)
The HSE and local authorities are inspecting premises to ensure they are complying with their legal obligations to protect public health. JCH Safety are working with companies across Coventry, Warwickshire, and the West Midlands to help them improve their COVID-19 compliance.
It is important that you display public information for your customers and staff to see about staying safe during the pandemic.
What signs about COVID-19 should we display?
Customers are asking about what signs they should display.
Firstly, it is important to remember that you must display all your normal legal signs and notices such as fire exit signs and information about fire extinguishers for example- along with safety signs about asbestos, electrical safety and the like. In addition to your normal signage, you need to get across to your staff and customers the importance of complying with your COVID-19 health precautions.
Your signage should reflect the messages of washing hands and keeping as much distance between people as possible, now known as social distancing. It is important to provide directional signage, so people know which way to walk around your premises in the safest possible way. When displaying signage, make sure you do so in such a way for it not to conflict with your fire evacuation routes. If you have a fire, people need to clearly understand how to evacuate safely. Other signs that are necessary, for some companies, are for places where social distancing cannot be achieved. In this circumstance, you must ensure to have a detailed risk assessment in place and, as a last resort, your team should wear face coverings. As with all aspects of health and safety, PPE is a last resort and for public health social distancing is of paramount importance. Make sure to take expert advice in these situations.
Thank you for reading this blog article.
JCH Safety LTD are a leading health and safety consultancy working across Coventry, Warwickshire, Leicestershire and the West Midlands. We specialise in all aspects of health and safety and fire risk assessments. If you would like any assistance with such matters please get in touch.
