Managing Employee Hygiene

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Please note that the below is based on best-practice advice. It may be subject to change when official guidance from the government is released. Last updated 11th May 2020.

Hand washing

Wash hands properly and regularly and especially:

• after coughing or sneezing and after toilet use
• before eating
• if in contact with a sick person, especially those with respiratory symptoms.

It is important to follow good practices for hand washing which include using soap and water and washing for over 20 seconds. Touching of the face should be avoided. Regular hand washing with soap and water is effective for the removal of COVID-19. Between washing use of hand sanitisers (70 per cent alcohol base) is recommended.

Mouth covering

Employees should cover their mouths when coughing and sneezing and clean the nose and mouth with disposable tissues. If they don’t have a tissue, they should cough or sneeze into their arm or sleeve (not hand), put used tissues into a sealed bin and then wash their hands.

Physical distancing

Introduction of physical distancing measures should be considered across all business types.

This can be achieved in a number of ways and include:

• reduced hot-desking
• evaluating workplace layouts and consider making certain stairways and hallways one way if social distancing guidelines cannot otherwise be met
• using plexiglass shields, tables or other barriers to block airborne particles and ensure minimum distances in the workplace
• developing protocols to ensure lifts remain only half full
• closing or modify certain common areas, such as canteens so that employees can socially distance and using floor tape to mark an appropriate distance
• erecting physical barriers and implementing rules to limit sharing equipment and supplies including pens. These rules might require you to be prepared with additional equipment and supplies before beginning to bring employees back onsite.
• provide hand sanitiser.
• change latch-based door handles so doors open or close through use of an “electric eye” or with a push of the door or a button or push pad, which may also assist with ongoing deep cleaning protocols.
• provide more car parking spaces to avoid colleagues giving each other lifts to work
• keeping a distance of 2 metres (6.5 feet) between employees
• avoiding making close contact with people (i.e. do not shake hands)
• encouraging use of card payment methods
• allocating times for collections/appointments/deliveries
• restricting/staggering the use of canteen facilities (bringing food/drinks to people)
• removing tables/chairs from the canteen and restricting the number of staff per table
• ceasing all self-service activities and providing food that is pre-wrapped
• reducing office density/support staff through working from home or split shift arrangements
• use of technology for video/virtual meetings
• limiting the number of meetings including length and proximity of gatherings between employees/others
• shift handover arrangements should be altered to ensure the appropriate routines are followed for social distancing (maintaining 2-metre distance)
• altering shift patterns to reduce worker numbers
• isolating individual buildings (eg no travel permitted between manufacturing and design buildings).

Restriction of visitors

A restriction on visitors to your organisation should be put in place. However, where business-critical visitors are required to attend the site, a controlled access process should be in place including adherence to sanitisation processes and full personal contact details (eg telephone number, last place visited should be collected to assist with contact tracing). An example Visitor Questionnaire is available on request via email.

If you need support or have any questions, please contact us here.

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