Working safely during COVID-19: new guidance for employers

4 min read

On Monday evening, the government published its guidance for making workplaces “COVID-19 secure”. The guidance sets out practical steps for businesses focused on five key points, which should be implemented "as soon as it is practical":

Work from home, if you can 

All reasonable steps should be taken by employers to help people work from home. However, employees who cannot work from home, and whose workplace has not been told to close, should go to work. Staff should speak to their employer about when their workplace will open.

Carry out a COVID-19 risk assessment, in consultation with workers or trade unions 

If possible, employers should publish the results of their risk assessments on their website; the government expects all businesses with over 50 employees to do so.

Maintain two metres social distancing, wherever possible

Employers should re-design workspaces to maintain two metre distances between people, by staggering start times, creating one way walk-throughs, opening more entrances and exits, or changing seating layouts in break rooms.

Where people cannot be two metres apart, manage transmission risk

Employers should look into putting barriers in shared spaces, creating workplace shift patterns or fixed teams minimising the number of people in contact with one another, or ensuring colleagues are facing away from each other.

Reinforcing cleaning processes

Workplaces should be cleaned more frequently, paying close attention to high-contact objects like door handles and keyboards. Employers should provide handwashing facilities or hand sanitisers at entry and exit points.

The guidance consists of eight workplace guides:

Each guide sets out practical considerations on how to work safely, on the basis that each business will need to translate this into the specific actions it needs to take, depending on the size and type of business, how it is organised, operated, managed and regulated.

The guides are all organised under the same headings, which set out objectives and steps which will usually be needed in relation to the following topics:

  • Thinking about risk
  • Who should go to work
  • Social distancing at work
  • Managing customers, visitors and contractors
  • Cleaning the workplace
  • Personal protective equipment (PPE) and face coverings
  • Workforce management
  • Inbound and outbound goods

Much of the content is duplicated between the guides, and replicates existing guidance for operating during the pandemic, as summarised in our previous briefing.

The main change of note relates to PPE and face coverings, where there is now consistent content across all eight guides. On PPE, the guidance states that additional PPE beyond what employees usually wear is not beneficial, and that COVID-19 needs to be managed through social distancing and hygiene measures, not through the use of PPE. Similarly on face coverings, the guidance acknowledges that this may be marginally beneficial as a precautionary measure, but is optional and is not required by law, including in the workplace. The government does not expect to see employers relying on face coverings as risk management for the purpose of their health and safety assessments. The guidance does however require that employers should support their workers in using face coverings safely if they choose to wear one, and sets out a number of points which should be communicated to workers in these circumstances.

A downloadable notice is included in the documents, which employers are encouraged to display in their workplaces to show their employees, customers and other visitors to their workplace that they have followed the guidance.

The guidance is expressly stated to be non-statutory, and not to supersede employers’ legal obligations relating to health and safety, employment or equalities. Employers are therefore strongly advised to take legal advice on their own circumstances, and not to assume that complying with the guidance will necessarily discharge all of their legal obligations to employees. This is particularly important given that in places the guidance does not always accurately reflect the legal position, for example as regards employee consultation on health and safety measures. The law allows that such consultation can take place directly with employees where there are no trade union representatives in place, whereas the guidance states that employers must consult with a trade union representative or a representative chosen by workers.

Employers must also be prepared for further developments. Each guide includes an expectation that it will be updated over time, which will inevitably reflect changes in scientific evidence and best practice as businesses resume. In addition, the government is expected to announce imminent changes to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), in order to better support the transition back to work.