Ruth Wilkinson, Head of Health and Safety (Policy and Operations) at the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), looks at how reopening workplaces and reintroducing colleagues back into office space, following the implementation of the Government Road Map out of lockdown and the lifting of some Covid-19 restrictions, can be done safely.
Businesses across many sectors are bringing employees back into the workplace, working within new operating models such as hybrid working, and maybe bringing visitors, members of the public and customers to their premise.
There are a huge number of things to consider to support a safe return to the workplace. The risk assessment must consider Covid-19 as a workplace hazard, assess the risks and identify controls to prevent and reduce risk. The risk assessment must also consider all other health and safety risks and ensure they remain well managed. As part of this process, you need to consider all work activities and workplace hazards and consider colleagues who will now be working remotely or using new equipment, technology or processes.
While the work from home instruction has been removed in England, what remains is an expectation for a gradual return. Covid-19 remains a hazard and a threat as the virus continues to circulate in communities and new variants are being discovered. IOSH strongly advocates that organisations continue to put in place good occupational health and safety management systems with robust and proportionate controls to take a prevention first approach to transmission and protect workers, customers and others.
Organisations have a responsibility to prevent, reduce and manage risks in the workplace, and this includes the spreading of the coronavirus within the workplace through its transmission routes (e.g. aerosol, droplet).
As part of the risk assessment process, and planning for the return, organisations will need to consider if the operating model has changed, who will be on site and who will be working remotely, and how this impacts on occupancy, among other things.
As per the risk assessment, the workplace will have collective control measures in place to prevent and reduce risks. Having less people in the office will reduce the risk profile and will eliminate the workplace risk for homeworkers. Such workplace controls should follow the hierarchy of control and include adequate ventilation, cleaning and hygiene amongst others as detailed in the specific working safely guideline for your operation and as per Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidance.
The physical workplace environment can be made safer to return to by following some practical steps.
The first step is to review all local guidance (through the Government, Public Health, etc). You should then complete a risk assessment that includes not just Covid-19 risks but also the identification of other hazards (have new ones been introduced?), evaluation of risk and necessary control measures. Time should be given to ensuring workers and representatives are consulted, and findings communicated to workers and others who access the premises. The system should be monitored and regularly reviewed as the situation evolves (following the plan-do-check-act system).
The controls, as per risk assessment, which can be implemented might include:
- reducing contact between people – physical barriers or screens, seating positions, etc
- distancing – measures applied to keep people apart where possible;
- workplace cleaning – keeping the workplace clean and sanitised, with frequency applied to key touchpoints and process in place for outbreaks;
- personal hygiene – providing hand washing and sanitising stations;
- ventilation – natural or mechanical ventilation or both;
- use of face coverings and masks – ensure the risk type is being worn for the activity as face coverings are not classed as PPE and some occupations/risk profiles will require specific PPE;
- communication to workers and others;
- addressing the needs of vulnerable workers and those at higher risk;
- rapid lateral flow device testing for workers;
- and security arrangements
There are some specific facility and building requirements which need to be considered when reopening after a lengthy closure. The building’s mechanical services will need to be evaluated, to ensure it is ready for reoccupation, while you should also assess for other issues associated with prolonged shut down, including pests, rodents, mould growth and stagnant water.
Before reoccupation, review legionella risk assessment and manage the risks when reinstating/ using a water system or restarting some specific air conditioning units (e.g. those with a source of water that can generate aerosol). HSE has specific advice on these matters. We also recommend you ensure ventilation systems operate properly and are effective, especially heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. The identification of adequate ventilation for your workplace will be through the risk assessment and taking action accordingly. Where you can, you should increase natural ventilation by opening windows and doors.
Special precautions may be necessary for escalators and elevators and other communal areas like kitchens, restrooms and changing facilities may need special consideration for cleaning and how you reduce occupancy.
Sticking on the subject of occupancy, consideration will need to be given to other areas of the building where occupancy might need to be managed, such as meeting rooms and entrance and exit points.
Another important measure to take is ensuring work equipment is safe. During prolonged closure, the testing of machinery, plant or equipment, for example, may have ceased, so it is important to pick this up again. Organisations should strive to fulfil all external and statutory inspections despite current circumstances. It’s advisable to give access to external inspection bodies so that they may fulfil any statutory checks. Should there be issues in undertaking scheduled inspections, you should adopt a risk-based process to determine whether equipment is safe to use.
In-house checks can be completed daily, weekly, monthly or annually depending on the type of equipment. Covid-19 has forced many organisations to close and therefore miss scheduled in-house checks. Before re-starting a business or any type of production, missed checks on equipment will need to be conducted to determine that the equipment is safe to use. These could include: legionella and water systems; lifting equipment; pressure systems; local exhaust ventilation; racking inspections; scaffolding; workplace transport; fire inspections; and routine machinery checks.
Should the equipment be deemed unsafe to use, organisations should plan alternative methods (which should be determined by a risk assessment) of ensuring business can resume as normal, in a safe manner. Alternative methods may include using different equipment until the necessary statutory or assurance checks have taken plan.
It is important to provide communication, awareness and education to all workers around the workplace hazards, risks and controls. You may need to update training, or train new starters on requirements within the workplace and using equipment.
It is clear that reopening workplaces cannot be done overnight. A significant amount of work must go into it, to ensure all health and safety risks are still managed. Likewise, if you do have employees working remotely, or in a hybrid model, do not forget to consider the hazards as part of the risk assessment.
It is important to have monitoring arrangements in place, seek feedback and take action.
IOSH has provided members and businesses with guidance around managing risks since the start of the pandemic.
For more information visit: https://iosh.com.
We also have a helpline – +44(0)1162573199 – if you need further advice on reopening workplaces safely.
