Reoccupation Risk Assessment

Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires employers to conduct suitable and sufficient risk assessments covering risks to employees who are at work and also risks to non-employees arising from their operations and to make and give effect to appropriate arrangements for planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review. Given that existing risk assessments may not cover Covid-19 hazards in sufficient detail, employers may wish to develop a specific risk assessment as part of their reoccupation planning. They must also consider how the key findings and controls from the risk assessment are effectively communicated to staff and other interested parties and how they are implemented.
In terms of topic areas, a reoccupation risk assessment might cover the following:

• how employees and contractors can safely enter premises that may have been closed for a number of weeks to prepare the site for reoccupation
• how to safely restart equipment and machinery that has been de-energised or just out of use for a period of time
• how social distancing measures will be maintained (especially around entrances, lifts and other common areas)
• the provision of adequate hand washing and welfare facilities
• cleaning operations (in the context of Covid-19)
• whether further training is required both in relation to Covid-19 and in relation to routine operations that may have become unfamiliar to staff due to a period away from the workplace (and how this will be delivered).

There may also be specific risks, which are relevant to each of the activities outlined below, and for which a more detailed assessment of risks and controls will be required. 
For your risk assessment or advice on your risk assessment, please do not hesitate to contact us.
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