Group Covid-19 Standards
The Community Housing Group remain committed in ensuring the health, safety and welfare of our employees, customers and others who may be affected by our work activities during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Our strategy is to follow government guidance (as a minimum) and go further by implementing our own set of controls to ensure our working arrangements are a safe as is reasonably practicable.
The commitments that we make and the arrangements that we put into place will not only ensure the health and safety of our staff and customers but we believe will also go a long way in combatting what is a monumental health problem for our country and the world.
Working in People's Homes
- We will ensure that our core and critical services which require staff to work in customers’ homes are formally risk assessed and that appropriate controls are put into place to prevent/minimise the risk of Covid-19 transmission
- With the exception of emergencies, our staff will not work in customers’ homes where one or more occupants are isolating, shielding or have tested positive to Covid-19
Note: this does not apply to customers living in schemes or properties where they are in receipt of care and support services. In such cases, our staff will have enhanced controls before entering homes - Our staff will maintain 2 metre social distancing and will communicate how this will be achieved with the customer before they enter the home
- Our staff will maintain 2 metre social distancing and will communicate how this will be achieved with the customer before they enter the home
- Our staff will wear face masks and disposable gloves to ensure the safety of themselves and our customers
- Our staff will reduce their activity time to as is low as reasonably practicably without compromising health and safety of themselves or our customers
- We will ensure that any work that requires 2 or more people to be within 2 metres of one another is NOT undertaken without the Manager first approving its necessity and confirming that controls are suitable
- Staff working in customers’ homes will have access to soap/warm water and/or hand sanitisers. Staff will regularly practice good hand hygiene
- Our staff will wipe down surfaces they have been in contact with (with an antibacterial solution) before they leave a customers home.
Working in Offices
- We will ensure that any work from our core offices is limited to essential work activities. This allows us to preserve our pool of resources and continue delivering essential services to our customers
- We will operate our offices at a significantly reduced capacity to minimise the risk of close working
- We will ensure that the setup up and configurations of office space (including workstations, walkways and welfare facilities) offer the maximum amount of social distancing (but no less than 2 metres)
- We will use screens, barriers and other physical controls where necessary and/or appropriate
- We will implement enhanced and more frequent cleaning schedules to ensure our offices and work spaces are kept as sterile as possible
- We will not re-open our reception for customers until it is safe to do so. We will devise alternate and more accessible arrangements for our customers to contact us.
Working in Construction Sites/Other Outdoor Work
- We will ensure all new build construction sites are formally risk assessed and that appropriate controls are put into place to prevent/minimise the risk of Covid-19 transmission
- Our programme of modernisation work (which affects occupied properties) will remain suspended until it is safe to re-start
- Our Site Managers will plan for the minimum number of people needed to be onsite to operate safely and effectively
- We will stagger arrival and departure times at construction sites to reduce crowding
- Our Site Managers will ensure all site workers are provided with a Covid-19 toolbox talk which explains the sites safe operating procedures
- Our staff and on-site contractors / visitors will maintain 2 metre social distancing
- We will ensure that any work that requires 2 or more people to be within 2 metres of one another is NOT undertaken without the Site Manager first approving its necessity and confirming that controls are suitable
- We will display prominent signage at the entrance of our construction sites (and in strategical places within the site) to clear explain our sites Covid-19 health and safety rules
- All site workers will have access to soap/warm water. In addition we will install easy to access hand sanitisers around our construction sites
- We will introduce Covid Marshals as an additional layer of assurance to monitor our construction sites to ensure implemented controls are effective and being followed
- We will implement increased cleaning schedules within welfare facilities and restrict the number of people that can use/enter the site cabin at any one time.
Working in Factories
- We will ensure our factories are formally risk assessed and that appropriate controls are put into place to prevent/minimise the risk of Covid-19 transmission
- Our Site Manager/Supervisor will plan for the minimum number of people needed to be onsite to operate our factories safely and effectively
- Our staff will maintain 2 metre social distancing on the factory floor and the units will be naturally ventilated at all times
- Our machine operators will wipe down machines with an antibacterial solution before and after use
- We will ensure that any work that requires 2 or more people to be within 2 metres of one another is NOT undertaken without the factory manager/supervisor first approving its necessity and confirming that controls are suitable
- All staff will have access to soap/warm water. In addition we will install easy to access hand sanitisers around our factory floor
- We will introduce Covid Marshals as an additional layer of assurance to monitor our factories to ensure implemented controls are effective and being followed
- We will implement increased cleaning schedules within welfare facilities and restrict the number of people than can use/enter the site cabin at any one time. Staff will regularly practice good hand hygiene.
Welfare and Wellbeing
- We recognise that Covid-19 will affect people differently regardless of whether they test positive or not. We have committed to ensuring that any staff we have to furlough receive 100% of their normal salary so that they do not have to worry about the financial hardship that furloughing may bring about
- Beyond income, we recognise that our staff will have unique situations at home as a direct result of Covid-19. This may include uncertainty about their partner’s job security, difficulties with child minding, caring for a dependant relative, challenges with underlying health conditions and many other issues. We will provide staff with access to the Group’s Employee Assistance Programme through which telephone Counselling and other support services are available. In addition, we will provide face-to-face counselling and health services through our Occupational Health and other partners
- We will ask our managers to keep in regular contact with their staff to ensure that they are generally well in themselves and that there are no issues (work related or otherwise) that they need support with
- We will ensure that any staff sickness or self-isolation due to a household members sickness attributed to Covid-19 is quickly identified to enable swift action to be taken (which will include local tracing where practical)
- We will facilitate testing for staff or support them to self-refer and ensure adherence to the NHS guidelines on self-isolation, whether related to a household member or own sickness (whether colleagues have symptoms or are asymptomatic) so far as is reasonably practical
- We will support the Government’s formal, confidential tracing systems, once a colleague has tested positive, as far as is reasonably practicable
- We will ensure colleagues with underlying health conditions, identified by the NHS or by the colleagues own GP, are able to shield, with no financial loss, for as long as guidance suggests or until such a time as a colleague is requesting to return, supported by their GP, when we will seek the guidance of our Occupational Health partners
- We will ensure that due consideration is given to the protection, so far as is reasonably practicable, of colleagues who may be at greater risk due to their age and BAME background, through risk assessment.
Home Working
- We will ensure that staff who are able to perform their roles from home continue do so for as long as is reasonably practicable
- We will ensure that any staff shielding as a result of an underlying health condition (due to a vulnerable household member) continue to work from home (or remain furloughed) for as long as is necessary and practical to ensure their health and wellbeing and that of their family
- All home workers will be provided with an e-learning module taking them through the steps they must take to ensure home working does not compromise their health and safety
- All staff will be provided with a new DSE Assessment to complete so that we can recognise and address any arrangements at home which may give rise to injury and ill health.
Chief Executive - Ray Brookes