Recently the UK marked the anniversary of the 1st Covid-19 lockdown.  It is also a positive sign that businesses will soon be re-opening after being closed throughout these lockdowns.

Things, however, will still not be the same as the country was a year ago.  Covid-19 safety precautions will still be prevalent during the lifting of the lockdown in April 2021.

The main factors that will be instilled is the hygiene and social distancing; washing hands as well sanitizing and wearing face coverings, whilst remaining a 2 meter social distance from others.  Though this will be adopted in workplaces, have other factors been considered?

The safety of your team not only looks at the physical aspects of protection from Covid-19 but also their mental health and wellbeing.  Absenteeism from deteriorating mental health during the pandemic increased since 2019, costing £14 billion.  Businesses are now seeing, more than ever, mental health as ‘essential to recovery’ (financially) post pandemic.

A safe workplace means more than social distancing office desks and vigorous cleaning.  The HSE have stated that Covid-19 risk assessments and control measures should be in place before staff return.  (More information of how to do this can be found on their website or contact us to put one in place for you.)  These risk assessments also look into updating your COSHH with the addition of new disinfectants, hand sanitizers etc.  Businesses also need to remember that water hasn’t been running since closure so this is why Legionella is mentioned in the Covid-19 risk assessment.

Organisations will have to consider whether refresher training is needed for staff as well as checking if any training has expired.  This could include checking fire safety and emergency first aid certificates.

This is not an exhaustive list, but purely to highlight some areas that may need preparing before re-opening.  Let us know your thoughts, leave a comment below.