During this unprecedented time, some of your businesses 1st Aid cover might not be able to get to work because of COVID-19.  In light of this, the HSE have issued guidance that you might need to know.

The HSE has provided some guidance on the above now that some of you are looking at going back to work.  The link is here:- https://www.hse.gov.uk/news/social-distancing-coronavirus.htm?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=coronavirus&utm_content=social-distancing#

Here at CoreGenic Ltd, during this unprecedented time, we are trying our level best to inform you as best we can regarding your works, duties, mental health and well being.  
To follow on from our previous postings, we are proud to issue you all with a guide for Lone Working.  This is because most of our works will now mean that we no longer can have a buddy to assist in us carrying out our tasks.
​Stay Safe.

Covid-19 – Driving and Drivers
Over the last few weeks, we have all begun to live and work in a very different place.
For those of you responsible for managing company vehicles, and with people who drive for work, there are many new challenges to navigate. None of us know for sure how long the disruption due to COVID-19 is going to last or, when we start to come out of it, what the new ‘normal’ is going to look like.
We have to remain positive, deal with the challenges we face as best we can and prepare ourselves properly for a world which won’t look the same as it did before.
Essential Drivers
Many business offering essential services are now operating at, or even above, maximum capacity. While there are currently temporary relaxations of regulations in areas such as drivers’ hours, this does not reduce your duty of care responsibilities to manage work-related road risk.  You need to consider the challenges around maintaining safety critical policies such as the management of driver fatigue as well as issues around driver recruitment, driver eligibility and sanitisation where multiple employees may be using the same vehicle.
Non-Essential Drivers
While those who can are now working from home leading to a massive increase in lone working, we’ve also seen many businesses with non-essential staff, including many van drivers, furloughing staff who are now sat at home wondering what the future holds. Managing mental health will be a major issue for all employers whether their staff are working from home, furloughed or still operational.
Vehicle Maintenance
A combination of lack of engineers due to self-isolation, and the closing of many garages means there is a serious lack of capacity to keep up with vehicle maintenance requirements. The temporary suspension of MOTs and maintenance schedules is meant to help keep vital business operational however you are still absolutely required to ensure your vehicles are roadworthy at all times – something the Traffic Commissioners and Health and Safety Executive have explicitly reinforced. You will need to consider the challenges of maintaining an operational fleet, managing mileage, and the implications of mothballing non-essential vehicles.
Fleet Admin & Housekeeping
If your fleet is classed as essential then you may be extremely stretched and feeling you aren’t able to focus everything as much as you would like but we can’t stress enough the importance of ensuring all your staff, and especially any new recruits, follow established policies – and now more than ever. This is highlighted by the recent successful prosecution of a business for a fatal accident following its failure to follow its own fatigue management policies. If you’re running a non-essential fleet, you may find this is an opportune time to start developing stronger procedures that build additional efficiency and resilience into your fleet management before we all return to work.
Back to "Normal"
Most seem to agree that ‘normal’ won’t look like it did before and elements of the fleet and transport world will have changed forever. The fast adoption of online meetings may, for instance, mean managing much lower car mileage in future. Now is the time that consideration should now be given to some of the key issues fleet and transport managers will have to address over the coming months such as the extensive checks required before reinstating mothballed vehicles, important considerations when bringing back furloughed drivers, and why the backlog in vehicle maintenance will cause significant problems for some time to come.

CDM Regulations 2015 – 3 Key Documents
Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2015 are applicable to all construction projects regardless of the size, duration, commercial or domestic (residential).

What is classified as ‘Construction Work’ – the CDM Regulations 2015 define “Construction work means the carrying out of any building, civil engineering or engineering construction work and includes (a) the construction, alteration, conversion, fitting out, commission, renovation, repair, upkeep, redecoration or other maintenance (including cleaning which involves the use of water or an abrasive at high pressure, or the use of corrosive or toxic substances), de-commissioning, demolition or dismantling of a structure”

The CDM Regulations require 3 key documents for projects where there is more than one contractor and they are:

• Pre-Construction Information
• Construction Phase Plan
• Health and Safety Plan​​

​Pre-Construction Information
Pre-construction information can include information such as surveys, drawings, services, relevant information for the project. It is the Principal Designers responsibility to co-ordinate health and safety information at the pre-construction stage, therefore it is important the Principal Designer is appointed as early as possible in the project.

• The Principal Designer needs to be appointed on all construction projects where there is more than one contractor. The Principal Designer has a wide range of duties to discharge before any work can commence on site and is responsible for managing health and safety during the pre-construction phase. It is the Principal Designers role to provide advise to the Client about information required for the Pre-Construction Information which will be issued to all designers and the Principal Contractor.
  On domestic projects, if the Client does not make the appointment in writing the designer in control of the pre-construction phase of the project is the Principal Designer (this appointment is automatic).
  On commercial projects (construction projects in connection with any business) if the Client does not make the appointment in writing, they are automatically the Principal Designer and are responsible for all the duties and requirements of the role.
  The Principal Designer will also need to structure the format and gather the required content for inclusion in the Health and Safety File which will be finalised and handed to the Client at the end of the project.
  

​
Construction Phase Plan
The Construction Phase Plan (or sometimes referred to as the Construction Health and Safety Plan) is required by CDM Regulations on all projects regardless of size, duration or
complexity). The Construction Phase Plan must be must be prepared before any work commences.
The Construction Phase Plan is a document detailing how health and safety will be managed throughout the duration of the project and will include details of work to be carried out, project management team and emergency arrangements. The content of the Construction Phase Plan will be specific to the project and should include the following key headings:

• Project Description – scope of works and key project information such as project team (Client, Principal Designer, Principal Contractor, Designers, & other consultants) and sub-contractor details
• Management of the Project – Details of management arrangements for work to be carried out. The management structure should be detailed and include information on key procedures such as induction, training, welfare, security, accident reporting and investigation (including RIDDOR) and liaison and communication between all parties on site. This section should also include project safety goals, site rules and emergency information (nearest accident and emergency, First Aider contact details etc.)
• Arrangements for controlling safety risks – risks should be identified, and details of control measures and arrangements required such as arrangements for dealing with services, structures, fragile materials, excavations, plant and equipment operation, pedestrian/vehicle management and segregation, lifting operations etc. Consideration should be given to storage areas, deliveries to site, traffic management and routes and risks to the general public.
• Health Risks – management arrangements and health risks should be identified, and consideration given to any activities that are likely to put the health of operatives, visitors, or members of the public at risk (e.g. Asbestos, hazardous substances, contaminated land, radiation). Activities such as exposure to dust, vibration, noise and manual handling activities should be covered in this section.
• Health and Safety File – information regarding the arrangements for gathering of information for inclusion in the Health and Safety File, the proposed layout and format and storage arrangements for information available to be detailed in this section.
  The Construction Phase Plan should be reviewed and updated as necessary throughout the duration of the project and as the work progresses and develops. Some details (project team, scope of works, all risks) may not be known or finalised at the point when the Construction Phase Plan is being developed, therefore the document should be viewed as a ‘live document’ and updates as required to ensure it is up to date and reflective of the construction work being carried out.
  Where appointed the Principal Contractor will have overall control of a construction project and must prepare and develop the Construction Phase Plan. If there is only one contractor on site, they must prepare and develop the Construction Phase Plan. ​

Health and Safety File
The Health and Safety File is an important document required by CDM Regulations 2015 and is required on projects where there is more than one contractor.
The Health and Safety File is prepared by the Principal Designer and will contain all relevant Health and Safety information needed to allow future construction work and future use (cleaning and maintenance) of the building to be carried out safely.
Information for the Health and Safety File is gathered off all CDM Duty Holders including the Client, Principal Contractor and other contractors working on the project.
The Health and Safety File should be proportionate to the project, larger more complex projects will require more information than a relatively small straight forward project.
The CDM Regulations 2015 require certain information to be included within the Health and Safety File (the exact information to be included will depend on the size, and complexity of the project). Generally, the Health and Safety File should include the following:

• Description of project including details of the site, project team and key dates
• Information on residual hazards which remain and how they can be managed (ground
  conditions, asbestos, fragile materials, access/egress to maintain equipment etc.)
• Safe Working Loads of structures and key structural principles
• Details of hazardous materials
• Health and Safety information relating to installed plant and equipment (removal,
  dismantling in future)
• Location and nature of significant services (underground services)
• As-built drawings of the structure, plant and equipment.
  The Health and Safety File should not be padded out with irrelevant information (information that will have no impact on the future safe use of the structure or future construction works). Information that should not be included within the Health and Safety File includes the pre- construction information, normal operational procedures that have no impact on health and safety, construction phase accidents statistics, contractual documents or information regarding demolished structures.
  Some items are that not required to be included within the Health and Safety File under the CDM Regulations may be useful to the Client (e.g. operation and maintenance manuals). It is good practice to include reference to the operation and maintenance manual within a the Health and Safety File. 

Here at CoreGenic, we understand that in this unprecedented time, the majority of you will be working from home.
The attached document is to ensure that your Health & Safety is not compromised and that the same values you have in work, also apply at home.
Stay Safe.

COVID-19 - RIDDOR Reporting
Here at CoreGenic, we would remind you all that during this difficult time, we still have a duty to report all incidents/accidents/diseases if they fall into the RIDDOR category.

COVID-19 does fall under the RIDDOR reporting requirements, so for clarity:-

You must only make a report under RIDDOR (The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013) when:

• an unintended incident at work has led to someone’s possible or actual exposure to coronavirus. This must be reported as a dangerous occurrence.

or

• a worker has been diagnosed as having COVID 19 and there is reasonable evidence that it was caused by exposure at work. This must be reported as a case of disease. 

What to report

Dangerous occurrences 

If something happens at work which results in (or could result in) the release or escape of coronavirus you must report this as a dangerous occurrence.  An example of a dangerous occurrence would be a lab worker accidentally smashing a glass vial containing coronavirus, leading to people being exposed.

Cases of disease: exposure to a biological agent

If there is reasonable evidence that someone diagnosed with COVID-19 was likely exposed because of their work you must report this as an exposure to a biological agent using the case of disease report.  An example of a work-related exposure to coronavirus would be a health care professional who is diagnosed with COVID-19 after treating patients with COVID-19.

​COVID-19: Cleaning in Non-Healthcare Settings
What you need to know:

• cleaning an area with normal household disinfectant after someone with suspected coronavirus (COVID-19) has left will reduce the risk of passing the infection on to other people
• if an area can be kept closed and secure for 72 hours, wait until this time has passed for cleaning as the amount of virus living on surfaces will have reduced significantly by 72 hours
• wherever possible, wear disposable or washing-up gloves and aprons for cleaning. These should be double-bagged, then stored securely for 72 hours then thrown away in the regular rubbish after cleaning is finished
• using a disposable cloth, first clean hard surfaces with warm soapy water. Then disinfect these surfaces with the cleaning products you normally use. Pay particular attention to frequently touched areas and surfaces, such as bathrooms, grab-rails in corridors and stairwells and door handles
• if an area has been heavily contaminated, such as with visible bodily fluids, from a person with coronavirus (COVID-19), consider using protection for the eyes, mouth and nose, as well as wearing gloves and an apron
• wash hands regularly with soap and water for 20 seconds, and after removing gloves, aprons and other protection used while cleaning

Background
Experience of new coronaviruses (SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV) has been used to inform this guidance.
The risk of infection depends on many factors, including:
• the type of surfaces contaminated
• the amount of virus shed from the individual
• the time the individual spent in the setting
• the time since the individual was last in the setting
The infection risk from coronavirus (COVID-19) following contamination of the environment decreases over time. It is not yet clear at what point there is no risk. However, studies of other viruses in the same family suggest that, in most circumstances, the risk is likely to be reduced significantly after 72 hours.
Principles of cleaning after the case has left the setting or area
Personal protective equipment (PPE)
The minimum PPE to be worn for cleaning an area where a person with possible or confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) is disposable gloves and an apron. Hands should be washed with soap and water for 20 seconds after all PPE has been removed.
If a risk assessment of the setting indicates that a higher level of virus may be present (for example, where unwell individuals have slept such as a hotel room or boarding school dormitory) or there is visible contamination with body fluids, then the need for additional PPE to protect the cleaner’s eyes, mouth and nose might be necessary. The local Public Health England (PHE) Health Protection Team (HPT) can advise on this.
Cleaning and Disinfection
Public areas where a symptomatic individual has passed through and spent minimal time, such as corridors, but which are not visibly contaminated with body fluids can be cleaned thoroughly as normal.
All surfaces that the symptomatic person has come into contact with must be cleaned and disinfected, including:

• objects which are visibly contaminated with body fluids
• all potentially contaminated high-contact areas such as bathrooms, door handles, telephones, grab-rails in corridors and stairwells

Use disposable cloths or paper roll and disposable mop heads, to clean all hard surfaces, floors, chairs, door handles and sanitary fittings, following one of the options below:

• use either a combined detergent disinfectant solution at a dilution of 1,000 parts per million available chlorine

or

• a household detergent followed by disinfection (1000 ppm av.cl.). Follow manufacturer’s instructions for dilution, application and contact times for all detergents and disinfectants or if an alternative disinfectant is used within the organisation, this should be checked and ensure that it is effective against enveloped viruses

Avoid creating splashes and spray when cleaning.Any cloths and mop heads used must be disposed of and should be put into waste bags as outlined below.
When items cannot be cleaned using detergents or laundered, for example, upholstered furniture and mattresses, steam cleaning should be used.
Any items that are heavily contaminated with body fluids and cannot be cleaned by washing should be disposed of.
If possible keep an area closed off and secure for 72 hours. After this time the amount of virus contamination will have decreased substantially and you can clean as normal with your usual products.
Laundry
Wash items in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. Use the warmest water setting and dry items completely. Dirty laundry that has been in contact with an unwell person can be washed with other people’s items.
Do not shake dirty laundry, this minimises the possibility of dispersing virus through the air.  Clean and disinfect anything used for transporting laundry with your usual products, in line with the cleaning guidance above.
Waste
Waste from possible cases and cleaning of areas where possible cases have been (including disposable cloths and tissues):

1. Should be put in a plastic rubbish bag and tied when full.
2. The plastic bag should then be placed in a second bin bag and tied.
3. It should be put in a suitable and secure place and marked for storage until the individual’s test results are known.

Waste should be stored safely and kept away from children. You should not put your waste in communal waste areas until negative test results are known or the waste has been stored for at least 72 hours.
• if the individual tests negative, this can be put in with the normal waste
• if the individual tests positive, then store it for at least 72 hours and put in with the normal waste
If storage for at least 72 hours is not appropriate, arrange for collection as a Category B infectious waste either by your local waste collection authority if they currently collect your waste or otherwise by a specialist clinical waste contractor. They will supply you with orange clinical waste bags for you to place your bags into so the waste can be sent for appropriate treatment.

The COVID - 19 pandemic has had an impact on organisations in many different ways, meaning that the assumptions made at the time when risk assessments were originally carried out, and policies were written, are no longer true. This guide describes the factors you should take into account as you review these documents in the light of the pandemic and its effects.​

You should review all your company policies to make sure they are relevant. You may even need to develop a specific COVID-19 policy depending on the status of your company.
A typical COVID-19 policy should include the following:

• general statement and legal position
• start date and review date – review dates should reflect the ever-changing situation
• actions your company will take, usually in line with government or regulatory body advice
• management requirements
• employee requirements
• contractor requirements
• cleaning arrangements
• risk assessment reviews.

This list in not exhaustive and depends on the type of business you operate.