Download our free Risk Assessment template for businesses planning to reopen an office, together with details of the eight new safe-working guides the government issued on 11 May...
The government has produced eight guides to help ensure workplaces are as safe as possible and 'COVID-19 Secure'. For bookkeepers who usually work from an office, we have summarised the information from the guidance for Offices and Contact Centres.
Staying 'COVID-19 Secure' in your office: 5 key points
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 working through these steps in order:
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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 (keeping people 2m apart wherever possible).
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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:
– 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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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.
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.
You should share the results of your risk assessment with your workforce.
*You can download our free Risk Assessment template to use as a base for yourself, employer or clients:
You can also download the government's notice to display in your office to confirm your compliance with the guidance
The government's eight guides cover a range of different types of work. Many businesses operate more than one type of workplace, such as an office, factory and fleet of vehicles. They may need to use more than one of these guides as they think through what you need to do to keep people safe.
