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Introduction
The UK is currently experiencing a public health emergency as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is critical that employers, employees and the self-employed take steps to keep everyone safe. This document is to help employers, employees and the self-employed in the UK understand how to work safely during this pandemic, ensuring as many people as possible comply with social distancing guidelines (2m apart, or 1m with risk mitigation where 2m is not viable, is acceptable). We hope it gives you freedom within a practical framework to think about what you need to do to continue, or restart, operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. We understand how important it is that you can work safely and support your workers’ and visitors’ health and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic and not contribute to the spread of the virus. We know that most office workers are not currently in the workplace, we hope this document will help those who are already working because they cannot work from home, as well as help other people think about how to prepare for when office working returns. The government is clear that workers should not be forced into an unsafe workplace and the health and safety of workers and visitors, and public health, should not be put at risk.
We know many people are also keen to return to or contribute to volunteering. Organisations have a duty of care to volunteers to ensure as far as reasonably practicable they are not exposed to risks to their health and safety. This guidance around working safely during COVID-19 should ensure that volunteers are afforded the same level of protection to their health and safety as others, such as workers and visitors.
This document has been prepared by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) with input from firms, unions, industry bodies and the devolved administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and in consultation with Public Health England (PHE) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Public health is devolved in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales; this guidance should be considered alongside local public health and safety requirements and legislation in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. For advice to businesses in other parts of the UK please see guidance set by the Northern Ireland Executive, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government.
We expect that this document will be updated over time. This version is up to date as of 3 July 2020. You can check for updates at www.gov.uk/workingsafely. If you have any feedback for us, please email safer.workplaces@beis.gov.uk.
This document is one of a set of documents about how to work safely in different types of workplace. This one is designed to be relevant for people who work in or run offices, contact centres and similar indoor environments.
How to use this guidance
This document sets out guidance on how to open workplaces safely while minimising the risk of spreading COVID-19. It gives practical considerations of how this can be applied in the workplace.
Each business will need to translate this into the specific actions it needs to take, depending on the nature of the business, including the size and type of business, how it is organised, operated, managed and regulated. They will also need to monitor these measures to make sure they continue to protect visitors and workers.
This guidance does not supersede any legal obligations relating to health and safety, employment or equalities and it is important that as a business or an employer you continue to comply with your existing obligations, including those relating to individuals with protected characteristics. It contains non-statutory guidance to take into account when complying with these existing obligations. When considering how to apply this guidance, take into account agency workers, contractors and other people, as well as your employees.
To help you decide which actions to take, you must carry out an appropriate COVID-19 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.
Indoor environments such as:
- offices
- contact centres
- operations rooms
1. Thinking about risk
In this section
Objective: That all employers carry out a COVID-19 risk assessment.
COVID-19 is a public health emergency. Everyone needs to assess and manage the risks of COVID-19, and in particular businesses should consider the risks to their workers and visitors. As an employer, you also have a legal responsibility to protect workers and others from risk to their health and safety. This means you need to think about the risks they face and do everything reasonably practicable to minimise them, recognising you cannot completely eliminate the risk of COVID-19.
You must make sure that the risk assessment for your business addresses the risks of COVID-19, using this guidance to inform your decisions and control measures. You should also consider the security implications of any decisions and control measures you intend to put in place, as any revisions could present new or altered security risks that may require mitigation. A risk assessment is not about creating huge amounts of paperwork, but rather about identifying sensible measures to control the risks in your workplace. 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. Your risk assessment will help you decide whether you have done everything you need to. The Health and Safety Executive has guidance for business on how to manage risk and risk assessment at work along with specific advice to help control the risk of coronavirus in workplaces.
Employers have a duty to consult their people on health and safety. You can do this by listening and talking to them about the work and how you will manage risks from COVID-19. The people who do the work are often the best people to understand the risks in the workplace and will have a view on how to work safely. Involving them in making decisions shows that you take their health and safety seriously. You must consult with the health and safety representative selected by a recognised trade union or, if there isn’t one, a representative chosen by workers. As an employer, you cannot decide who the representative will be.
At its most effective, full involvement of your workers creates a culture where relationships between employers and workers are based on collaboration, trust and joint problem solving. As is normal practice, workers should be involved in assessing workplace risks and the development and review of workplace health and safety policies in partnership with the employer.
Employers and workers should always come together to resolve issues. If concerns still cannot be resolved, see below for further steps you can take.
Where the enforcing authority, such as the HSE or your local authority, identifies employers who are not taking action to comply with the relevant public health legislation and guidance to control public health risks, they are empowered to take a range of actions to improve control of workplace risks. For example, this would cover employers not taking appropriate action to ensure social distancing, where possible.
Failure to complete a risk assessment which takes account of COVID-19, or completing a risk assessment but failing to put in place sufficient measures to manage the risk of COVID-19, could constitute a breach of health and safety law. The actions the enforcing authority can take include the provision of specific advice to employers to support them to achieve the required standard, through to issuing enforcement notices to help secure improvements. Serious breaches and failure to comply with enforcement notices can constitute a criminal offence, with serious fines and even imprisonment for up to 2 years. There is also a wider system of enforcement, which includes specific obligations and conditions for licensed premises.
Employers are expected to respond to any advice or notices issued by enforcing authorities rapidly and are required to do so within any timescales imposed by the enforcing authorities. The vast majority of employers are responsible and will join with the UK’s fight against COVID-19 by working with the government and their sector bodies to protect their workers and the public. However, inspectors are carrying out compliance checks nationwide to ensure that employers are taking the necessary steps.
Employers must follow all instructions from authorities in the event of new local restrictions.
How to raise a concern:
- contact your employee representative
- contact your trade union if you have one
- contact HSE at:
1.1 Managing risk
Objective: To reduce risk to the lowest reasonably practicable level by taking preventative measures, in order of priority.
Employers have a duty to reduce workplace risk to the lowest reasonably practicable level by taking preventative measures. Employers must work with any other employers or contractors sharing the workplace so that everybody’s health and safety is protected. In the context of COVID-19 this means protecting the health and safety of your workers and visitors by working through these steps in order:
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Ensuring both workers and visitors who feel unwell stay at home and do not attend the premises.
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In every workplace, increasing the frequency of handwashing and surface cleaning.
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Businesses and workplaces should make every reasonable effort to enable working from home as a first option. Where working from home is not possible, workplaces should make every reasonable effort to comply with the social distancing guidelines set out by the government (2m, or 1m with risk mitigation where 2m is not viable, is acceptable – you should consider and set out the mitigations you will introduce in your risk assessments).
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Where it is not possible to comply with the social distancing guidelines, workplaces should consider whether an activity can be redesigned to maintain a 2m distance.
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Where the social distancing guidelines cannot be followed in full, in relation to a particular activity, businesses should consider whether that activity needs to continue for the business to operate, and, if so, take all the mitigating actions possible to reduce the risk of transmission between their staff.
Further mitigating actions include:
– further increasing the frequency of hand washing and surface cleaning
– keeping the activity time involved as short as possible
– using screens or barriers to separate people from each other
– using back-to-back or side-to-side working (rather than face-to-face) whenever possible
– reducing the number of people each person has contact with by using ‘fixed teams or partnering’ (so each person works with only a few others)
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You should ensure that steps are taken to avoid people needing to unduly raise their voices to each other. This includes, but is not limited to, refraining from playing music or broadcasts that may encourage shouting, including if played at a volume that makes normal conversation difficult. This is because of the potential for increased risk of transmission, particularly from aerosol transmission. We will develop further guidance, based on scientific evidence, to enable these activities as soon as possible.
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Finally, if people must work face-to-face for a sustained period with more than a small group of fixed partners, then you will need to assess whether the activity can safely go ahead. No one is obliged to work in an unsafe work environment.
In your assessment you should have particular regard to whether the people doing the work are especially vulnerable to COVID-19.
The recommendations in the rest of this document are ones you must consider as you go through this process. You could also consider any advice that has been produced specifically for your sector, for example by trade associations or trades unions.
If you have not already done so, you should carry out an assessment of the risks posed by COVID-19 in your workplace as soon as possible. If you are currently operating, you are likely to have gone through a lot of this thinking already. We recommend that you use this document to identify any further improvements you should make. You must review the measures you have put in place to make sure they are working. You should also review them if they may no longer be effective or if there are changes in the workplace that could lead to new risks.
1.2 Sharing your risk assessment
You must share the results of your risk assessment with your workforce. If possible, you should consider publishing it on your website (and we would expect all businesses with over 50 employees to do so). We would expect all businesses to demonstrate to their workers and customers that they have properly assessed their risk and taken appropriate measures to mitigate this. You should do this by displaying a notification in a prominent place in your business and on your website, if you have one.
Below you will find a notice you should sign and display in your workplace to show you have followed this guidance.
2. Who should go to work
In this section
Objective: That everyone should work from home, unless they cannot work from home.
People who can work from home should continue to do so. Employers should decide, in consultation with their workers, whether it is viable for them to continue working from home. Where it is decided that workers should come into their place of work then this will need to be reflected in the risk assessment and actions taken to manage the risks of transmission in line with this guidance.
Steps that will usually be needed:
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Staff should work from home if at all possible. Consider who is needed to be on-site; for example:
– workers in roles critical for business and operational continuity, safe facility management, or regulatory requirements and which cannot be performed remotely.
– workers in critical roles which might be performed remotely, but who are unable to work remotely due to home circumstances or the unavailability of safe enabling equipment.
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Planning for the minimum number of people needed on site to operate safely and effectively.
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Monitoring the wellbeing of people who are working from home and helping them stay connected to the rest of the workforce, especially if the majority of their colleagues are on-site.
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Keeping in touch with off-site workers on their working arrangements including their welfare, mental and physical health and personal security.
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Providing equipment for people to work at home safely and effectively, for example, remote access to work systems.
2.1 Protecting people who are at higher risk
Objective: To protect clinically extremely vulnerable and clinically vulnerable individuals. individuals.
Clinically extremely vulnerable individuals have been strongly advised not to work outside the home during the pandemic peak and only return to work when community infection rates are low.
Clinically vulnerable individuals, who are at higher risk of severe illness (for example, people with some pre-existing conditions), have been asked to take extra care in observing social distancing and should be helped to work from home, either in their current role or in an alternative role.
If clinically vulnerable individuals cannot work from home, they should be offered the option of the safest available on-site roles, enabling them to maintain social distancing guidelines (2m, or 1m with risk mitigation where 2m is not viable, is acceptable). If they cannot maintain social distancing, you should carefully assess whether this involves an acceptable level of risk. As for any workplace risk you must take into account specific duties to those with protected characteristics, including, for example, expectant mothers who are, as always, entitled to suspension on full pay if suitable roles cannot be found. Particular attention should also be paid to people who live with clinically extremely vulnerable individuals.
Steps that will usually be needed:
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Providing support for workers around mental health and wellbeing. This could include advice or telephone support.
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See current guidance for advice on who is in the clinically extremely vulnerable and clinically vulnerable groups.
2.2 People who need to self-isolate
Objective: To make sure individuals who are advised to stay at home under existing government guidance to stop infection spreading do not physically come to work. This includes individuals who have symptoms of COVID-19, those who live in a household or are in a support bubble with someone who has symptoms and those who are advised to self-isolate as part of the government’s test and trace service.
2.3 Equality in the workplace
Objective: To make sure that nobody is discriminated against.
In applying this guidance, employers should be mindful of the particular needs of different groups of workers or individuals.
It is breaking the law to discriminate, directly or indirectly, against anyone because of a protected characteristic such as age, sex, disability, race or ethnicity.
Employers also have particular responsibilities towards disabled workers and those who are new or expectant mothers.
Steps that will usually be needed:
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Understanding and taking into account the particular circumstances of those with protected characteristics.
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Involving and communicating appropriately with workers whose protected characteristics might either expose them to a different degree of risk, or might make any measures you are considering implementing inappropriate or challenging for them.
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Considering whether you need to put in place any particular measures or adjustments to take account of your duties under the equalities legislation.
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Making reasonable adjustments to avoid disabled workers being put at a disadvantage, and assessing the health and safety risks for new or expectant mothers.
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Making sure that the steps you take do not have an unjustifiable negative impact on some groups compared to others, for example, those with caring responsibilities or those with religious commitments.
3. Social distancing for workers
In this section
Objective: Ensuring workers maintain social distancing guidelines (2m, or 1m with risk mitigation where 2m is not viable, is acceptable), wherever possible, including while arriving at and departing from work, while in work and when travelling between sites.
You must maintain social distancing in the workplace wherever possible.
Where the social distancing guidelines cannot be followed in full in relation to a particular activity, businesses should consider whether that activity needs to continue for the business to operate, and, if so, take all the mitigating actions possible to reduce the risk of transmission between their staff.
Mitigating actions include:
- further increasing the frequency of hand washing and surface cleaning
- keeping the activity time involved as short as possible
- using screens or barriers to separate people from each other
- using back-to-back or side-to-side working (rather than face-to-face) whenever possible
- reducing the number of people each person has contact with by using ‘fixed teams or partnering’ (so each person works with only a few others)
Social distancing applies to all parts of a business, not just the place where people spend most of their time, but also entrances and exits, break rooms, canteens and similar settings. These are often the most challenging areas to maintain social distancing and workers should be specifically reminded.
3.1 Coming to work and leaving work
Objective: To maintain social distancing wherever possible, on arrival and departure and to ensure handwashing upon arrival.
Steps that will usually be needed:
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Staggering arrival and departure times at work to reduce crowding into and out of the workplace, taking account of the impact on those with protected characteristics.
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Providing additional parking or facilities such as bike racks to help people walk, run, or cycle to work where possible.
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Limiting passengers in corporate vehicles, for example, work minibuses. This could include leaving seats empty.
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Reducing congestion, for example, by having more entry points to the workplace.
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Providing more storage for workers for clothes and bags.
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Using markings and introducing one-way flow at entry and exit points.
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Providing handwashing facilities, or hand sanitiser where not possible, at entry and exit points and not using touch-based security devices such as keypads where possible.
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Maintaining use of security access devices, such as keypads or passes, and adjusting processes at entry/exit points to reduce risk of transmission. For example, cleaning pass readers regularly and asking staff to hold their passes next to pass readers rather than touching them.
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See government guidance on travelling to and from work.
3.2 Moving around buildings and worksites
Objective: To maintain social distancing wherever possible while people travel through the workplace.
Steps that will usually be needed:
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Reducing movement by discouraging non-essential trips within buildings and sites, for example, restricting access to some areas, encouraging use of radios or telephones or other electronic devices, where permitted, and cleaning them between use.
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Restricting access between different areas of a building or site.
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Reducing job and location rotation.
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Introducing more one-way flow through buildings.
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Reducing maximum occupancy for lifts, providing hand sanitiser for the operation of lifts and encouraging use of stairs wherever possible.
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Making sure that people with disabilities are able to access lifts.
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Managing use of high traffic areas including corridors, lifts turnstiles and walkways to maintain social distancing.
Example lift practices.
3.3 Workplaces and workstations
Objective: To maintain social distancing between individuals when they are at their workstations.
For people who work in one place, workstations should allow them to maintain social distancing wherever possible.
Workstations should be assigned to an individual and not shared. If they need to be shared they should be shared by the smallest possible number of people.
If it is not possible to ensure working areas comply with social distancing guidelines (2m, or 1m with risk mitigation where 2m is not viable, is acceptable) then businesses should consider whether that activity needs to continue for the business to operate, and if so take all mitigating actions possible to reduce the risk of transmission.
Steps that will usually be needed:
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Review layouts and processes to allow people to work further apart from each other.
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Using floor tape or paint to mark areas to help people comply with social distancing (2m, or 1m with risk mitigation where 2m is not viable, is acceptable).
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Only where it is not possible to move workstations further apart, arranging people to work side by side or facing away from each other rather than face-to-face.
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Only where it is not possible to move workstations further apart, using screens to separate people from each other.
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Managing occupancy levels to enable social distancing.
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Avoiding use of hot desks and spaces and, where not possible, for example, call centres or training facilities, cleaning and sanitising workstations between different occupants including shared equipment.
3.4 Meetings
Objective: To reduce transmission due to face-to-face meetings and maintain social distancing in meetings.
Steps that will usually be needed:
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Using remote working tools to avoid in-person meetings.
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Only absolutely necessary participants should physically attend meetings and should maintain social distancing (2m, or 1m with risk mitigation where 2m is not viable, is acceptable).
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Avoiding transmission during meetings, for example avoiding sharing pens, documents and other objects.
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Providing hand sanitiser in meeting rooms.
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Holding meetings outdoors or in well-ventilated rooms whenever possible.
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For areas where regular meetings take place, using floor signage to help people maintain social distancing.
3.5 Common areas
Objective: To maintain social distancing while using common areas.
Steps that will usually be needed:
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Working collaboratively with landlords and other tenants in multi-tenant sites/buildings to ensure consistency across common areas, for example, receptions, staircases.
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Staggering break times to reduce pressure on the staff break rooms or places to eat and ensuring social distancing is maintained in staff break rooms.
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Using safe outside areas for breaks.
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Creating additional space by using other parts of the workplace or building that have been freed up by remote working.
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Installing screens to protect staff in receptions or similar areas.
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Providing packaged meals or similar to avoid fully opening staff canteens.
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Encouraging workers to bring their own food.
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Reconfiguring seating and tables to maintain spacing and reduce face-to-face interactions.
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Encouraging staff to remain on-site and, when not possible, maintaining social distancing while off-site.
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Regulating use of locker rooms, changing areas and other facility areas to reduce concurrent usage.
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Encouraging storage of personal items and clothing in personal storage spaces, for example, lockers and during shifts.
3.6 Accidents, security and other incidents
Objective: To prioritise safety during incidents.
In an emergency, for example, an accident, provision of first aid, fire or break-in, people do not have to comply with social distancing guidelines if it would be unsafe.
People involved in the provision of assistance to others should pay particular attention to sanitation measures immediately afterwards including washing hands.
Steps that will usually be needed:
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Reviewing your incident and emergency procedures to ensure they reflect the social distancing principles as far as possible.
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Considering the security implications of any changes you intend to make to your operations and practices in response to COVID-19, as any revisions may present new or altered security risks which may need mitigations.
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For organisations who conduct physical searches of people, considering how to ensure safety of those conducting searches while maintaining security standards.
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Following government guidance on managing security risks.
4. Managing your customers, visitors and contractors
In this section
4.1 Manage contracts
Objective: To minimise the number of unnecessary visits to offices.
Steps that will usually be needed:
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Encouraging visits via remote connection/working where this is an option.
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Limiting the number of visitors at any one time.
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Limiting visitor times to a specific time window and restricting access to required visitors only.
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Determining if schedules for essential services and contractor visits can be revised to reduce interaction and overlap between people, for example, carrying out services at night.
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Maintaining a record of all visitors, if this is practical.
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Encouraging visitors to use hand sanitiser or handwashing facilities as they enter the premises.
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Revising visitor arrangements to ensure social distancing and hygiene, for example, where someone physically signs in with the same pen in receptions.
4.2 Providing and explaining available guidance
Objective: To make sure people understand what they need to do to maintain safety.
Steps that will usually be needed:
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Providing clear guidance on social distancing and hygiene to people on arrival, for example, signage or visual aids and before arrival, for example, by phone, on the website or by email. Consider the particular needs of those with protected characteristics, such as those who are hearing or visually impaired.
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Establishing host responsibilities relating to COVID-19 and providing any necessary training for people who act as hosts for visitors.
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Reviewing entry and exit routes for visitors and contractors to minimise contact with other people.
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Coordinating and working collaboratively with landlords and other tenants in multi-tenant sites, for example, shared working spaces.
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Informing visitors that they should be prepared to remove face coverings if asked to do so by police officers and staff for the purposes of identification.
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Ensuring information provided to visitors, such as advice on the location or size of queues, does not compromise their safety.
5. Cleaning the workplace
In this section
5.1 Before reopening
Objective: To make sure that any site or location that has been closed or partially operated is clean and ready to restart, including:
- an assessment for all sites, or parts of sites, that have been closed, before restarting work
- carrying out cleaning procedures and providing hand sanitiser before restarting work
Steps that will usually be needed:
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Checking whether you need to service or adjust ventilation systems, for example, so that they do not automatically reduce ventilation levels due to lower than normal occupancy levels.
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Most air conditioning systems do not need adjustment, however where systems serve multiple buildings or you are unsure, advice can be sought from your heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) engineers or advisers.
5.2 Keeping the workplace clean
Objective: To keep the workplace clean and prevent transmission by touching contaminated surfaces.
Steps that will usually be needed:
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Frequent cleaning of work areas and equipment between uses, using your usual cleaning products.
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Frequent cleaning of objects and surfaces that are touched regularly including door handles and keyboards, and making sure there are adequate disposal arrangements for cleaning products.
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Clearing workspaces and removing waste and belongings from the work area at the end of a shift.
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Limiting or restricting use of high-touch items and equipment, for example, printers or whiteboards.
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If you are cleaning after a known or suspected case of COVID-19 then you should refer to the specific guidance.
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Maintaining good ventilation in the work environment. For example, opening windows and doors frequently, where possible.
5.3 Hygiene: handwashing, sanitation facilities and toilets
Objective: To help everyone keep good hygiene through the working day.
Steps that will usually be needed:
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Using signs and posters to build awareness of good handwashing technique, the need to increase handwashing frequency, avoid touching your face and to cough or sneeze into a tissue which is binned safely, or into your arm if a tissue is not available.
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Providing regular reminders and signage to maintain personal hygiene standards.
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Providing hand sanitiser in multiple locations in addition to washrooms.
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Setting clear use and cleaning guidance for toilets to ensure they are kept clean and social distancing is achieved as much as possible.
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Enhancing cleaning for busy areas.
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Providing more waste facilities and more frequent rubbish collection.
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Providing hand drying facilities – either paper towels or electrical driers.
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Keeping the facilities well ventilated, for example by fixing doors open where appropriate.
5.4 Changing rooms and showers
Objective: To minimise the risk of transmission in changing rooms and showers.
Steps that will usually be needed:
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Where shower and changing facilities are required, setting clear use and cleaning guidance for showers, lockers and changing rooms to ensure they are kept clean and clear of personal items and social distancing is achieved as much as possible.
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Introducing enhanced cleaning of all facilities regularly during the day and at the end of the day.
5.5 Handling goods, merchandise and other materials, and onsite vehicles
Objective: To reduce transmission through contact with objects that come into the workplace and vehicles at the worksite.
Steps that will usually be needed:
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Cleaning procedures for goods and merchandise entering the site.
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Cleaning procedures for vehicles.
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Introducing greater handwashing and handwashing facilities for workers handling goods and merchandise and providing hand sanitiser where this is not practical.
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Regular cleaning of vehicles that workers may take home.
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Restricting non-business deliveries, for example, personal deliveries to workers.
6. Personal protective equipment (PPE) and face coverings
In this section
PPE protects the user against health or safety risks at work. It can include items such as safety helmets, gloves, eye protection, high-visibility clothing, safety footwear and safety harnesses. It also includes respiratory protective equipment, such as face masks.
Where you are already using PPE in your work activity to protect against non-COVID-19 risks, you should continue to do so.
At the start of this document we described the steps you need to take to manage COVID-19 risk in the workplace. This includes working from home and maintaining social distancing guidelines (2m, or 1m with risk mitigation where 2m is not viable, is acceptable). When managing the risk of COVID-19, additional PPE beyond what you usually wear is not beneficial. This is because COVID-19 is a different type of risk to the risks you normally face in a workplace, and needs to be managed through social distancing, hygiene and fixed teams or partnering, not through the use of PPE.
The exception is clinical settings, like a hospital, or a small handful of other roles for which Public Health England advises use of PPE, for example, first responders and immigration enforcement officers. If you are in one of these groups you should refer to the advice at:
Workplaces should not encourage the precautionary use of extra PPE to protect against COVID-19 outside clinical settings or when responding to a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19.
Unless you are in a situation where the risk of COVID-19 transmission is very high, your risk assessment should reflect the fact that the role of PPE in providing additional protection is extremely limited. However, if your risk assessment does show that PPE is required, then you must provide this PPE free of charge to workers who need it. Any PPE provided must fit properly.
6.1 Face coverings
There are some circumstances when wearing a face covering may be marginally beneficial as a precautionary measure. The evidence suggests that wearing a face covering does not protect you, but it may protect others if you are infected but have not developed symptoms. However, workers and visitors who want to wear a face covering should be allowed to do so.
A face covering can be very simple and may be worn in enclosed spaces where social distancing isn’t possible. It just needs to cover your mouth and nose. It is not the same as a face mask, such as the surgical masks or respirators used by health and care workers. Similarly, face coverings are not the same as the PPE used to manage risks like dust and spray in an industrial context. Supplies of PPE, including face masks, must continue to be reserved for those who need them to protect against risks in their workplace, such as health and care workers, and those in industrial settings like those exposed to dust hazards.
It is important to know that the evidence of the benefit of using a face covering to protect others is weak and the effect is likely to be small, therefore face coverings are not a replacement for the other ways of managing risk, including minimising time spent in contact, using fixed teams and partnering for close-up work, and increasing hand and surface washing. These other measures remain the best ways of managing risk in the workplace and government would therefore not expect to see employers relying on face coverings as risk management for the purpose of their health and safety assessments.
Wearing a face covering is required by law when travelling as a passenger on public transport in England. Some people don’t have to wear a face covering including for health, age or equality reasons. Elsewhere in England it is optional and is not required by law, including in the workplace. If you choose to wear one, it is important to use face coverings properly and wash your hands before putting them on and before and after taking them off.
Employers should support their workers in using face coverings safely if they choose to wear one. This means telling workers:
- wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water for 20 seconds or use hand sanitiser before putting a face covering on, and before and after removing it
- when wearing a face covering, avoid touching your face or face covering, as you could contaminate them with germs from your hands
- change your face covering if it becomes damp or if you’ve touched it
- continue to wash your hands regularly
- change and wash your face covering daily
- if the material is washable, wash in line with manufacturer’s instructions. If it’s not washable, dispose of it carefully in your usual waste
- practise social distancing wherever possible
You can make face-coverings at home. Find guidance on how to wear and make a face-covering on GOV.UK.
7. Workforce management
In this section
7.1 Shift patterns and outbreaks
7.1.1 Shift patterns and working groups
Objective: To change the way work is organised to create distinct groups and reduce the number of contacts each employee has.
Steps that will usually be needed:
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As far as possible, where staff are split into teams or shift groups, fixing these teams or shift groups so that where contact is unavoidable, this happens between the same people.
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Identifying areas where people directly pass things to each other, for example office supplies, and finding ways to remove direct contact, such as using drop-off points or transfer zones.
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You should assist the Test and Trace service by keeping a temporary record of your staff shift patterns for 21 days and assist NHS Test and Trace with requests for that data if needed. This could help contain clusters or outbreaks. Check what data you need to collect and how it should be managed.
7.1.2 Outbreaks in the workplace
Objective: To provide guidance in an event of a COVID-19 outbreak in the workplace.
Steps that will usually be needed:
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As part of your risk assessment, you should ensure you have an up to date plan in case there is a COVID-19 outbreak. This plan should nominate a single point of contact (SPOC) where possible who should lead on contacting local Public Health teams.
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If there is more than one case of COVID-19 associated with your workplace, you should contact your local PHE health protection team to report the suspected outbreak. Find your local PHE health protection team.
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If the local PHE health protection team declares an outbreak, you will be asked to record details of symptomatic staff and assist with identifying contacts. You should therefore ensure all employment records are up to date. You will be provided with information about the outbreak management process, which will help you to implement control measures, assist with communications to staff, and reinforce prevention messages.
7.2 Work-related travel
7.2.1 Cars, accommodation and visits
Objective: To avoid unnecessary work travel and keep people safe when they do need to travel between locations.
Steps that will usually be needed:
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Avoiding using public transport, and aiming to walk, cycle, or drive instead. If using public transport is necessary, wearing a face covering is mandatory.
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Minimising the number of people outside your household, or support bubble, travelling together in any one vehicle, using fixed travel partners, increasing ventilation when possible and avoiding sitting face-to-face..
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Cleaning shared vehicles between shifts or on handover.
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Where workers are required to stay away from their home, centrally logging the stay and making sure any overnight accommodation meets social distancing guidelines.
7.2.2 Deliveries to other sites
Objective: To help workers delivering to other sites such as branches, or suppliers’ or customers’ premises to maintain social distancing and hygiene practices.
Steps that will usually be needed:
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Putting in place procedures to minimise person-to-person contact during deliveries to other sites.
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Maintaining consistent pairing where 2-person deliveries are required.
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Minimising contact during payments and exchange of documentation, for example, by using electronic payment methods and electronically signed and exchanged documents.
7.3 Communications and Training
7.3.1 Returning to Work
Objective: To make sure all workers understand COVID-19 related safety procedures.
Steps that will usually be needed:
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Providing clear, consistent and regular communication to improve understanding and consistency of ways of working.
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Engaging with workers through existing communication routes and worker representatives to explain and agree any changes in working arrangements.
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Developing communication and training materials for workers prior to returning to site, especially around new procedures for arrival at work.
7.3.2 Ongoing communications and signage
Objective: To make sure all workers are kept up to date with how safety measures are being implemented or updated.
Steps that will usually be needed:
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Ongoing engagement with workers (including through trades unions or employee representative groups) to monitor and understand any unforeseen impacts of changes to working environments.
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Awareness and focus on the importance of mental health at times of uncertainty. The government has published guidance on the mental health and wellbeing aspects of coronavirus (COVID-19).
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Using simple, clear messaging to explain guidelines using images and clear language, with consideration of groups for which English may not be their first language and those with protected characteristics such as visual impairments.
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Using visual communications, for example whiteboards or signage, to explain changes to schedules or breakdowns without the need for face-to-face communications.
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Communicating approaches and operational procedures to suppliers, customers or trade bodies to help their adoption and to share experience.
8. Inbound and outbound goods
Objective: To maintain social distancing and avoid surface transmission when goods enter and leave the site.
Steps that will usually be needed:
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Revising pick-up and drop-off collection points, procedures, signage and markings.
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Minimising unnecessary contact at gatehouse security, yard and warehouse. For example, non-contact deliveries where the nature of the product allows for use of electronic pre-booking.
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Considering methods to reduce frequency of deliveries, for example by ordering larger quantities less often.
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Where possible and safe, having single workers load or unload vehicles.
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Where possible, using the same pairs of people for loads where more than one is needed.
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Enabling drivers to access welfare facilities when required, consistent with other guidance.
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Encouraging drivers to stay in their vehicles where this does not compromise their safety and existing safe working practice, such as preventing drive-aways.
Where to obtain further guidance
Find advice and support from your business representative organisation or trade association.
Appendix
Definitions
| Clinically extremely vulnerable people |
Refers to people who have specific underlying health conditions that make them extremely vulnerable to severe illness if they contract COVID-19. Clinically extremely vulnerable people will have received a letter telling them they are in this group, or will have been told by their GP. Who is ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’? |
| Clinically vulnerable people |
Refers to people who may be at increased risk from COVID-19, including those aged 70 or over and those with some underlying health conditions. Who is ‘clinically vulnerable’? |
| Common areas |
Refers to areas and amenities which are provided for the common use of more than one person including canteens, reception areas, meeting rooms, areas of worship, toilets, gardens, fire escapes, kitchens, fitness facilities, store rooms, laundry facilities. |
| Support bubbles |
The term ‘support bubble’ refers to single adult households, where adults live alone or with dependent children only, expanding their support network so that it includes one other household of any size. Meeting people from outside your household. |
