​

 

 

Policy Statement

​

JWW.life are committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of all their colleagues during the current pandemic, and have encouraged and made provision for all staff to work from home where possible or, in order to preserve the stability of the business, have opted to take up the Government on the offer of Furlough.

This document is to instigate a procedure for all staff to follow when the opportunity to return to our normal working environment is possible.

​

Due to the severity of the current pandemic, further directives may be required as we progress through the stages of a return to work, and where possible, alternatives have been determined and outlined here.  Where this is not possible, further directives may be made as required.

​

Procedure

​

The following is a procedure for all colleagues to follow until such time as social distancing can be relaxed.

​

‘The Warren’ Office

​

For the duration of Social Distancing any visitors to the office should be actively discouraged, if this is unavoidable, you should ask all visitors to wear a mask throughout their visit.  They must also enter their details on the visitor’s sheet without fail.

​

Day to Day Activities:

• On arrival at the office all staff must wash their hands and make their way to their normal desk;

• It has been measured and our normal locations within the office fulfil the distancing rule;

• Work space at your desk should be wiped each morning with alcohol wipes (provided) prior to starting work;

• Telephones should be wiped with alcohol wipes each morning prior to starting work, and staff should only transfer calls via the function on the telephone and, NOT pass telephones to each other to accept calls;

• Paperwork that is required by other members of staff should be emailed across, physical paperwork should not change hands;

• Paperwork delivered to the office, should be dropped into the tray by the copier, and should not be handled by anyone unnecessarily;  Once it is handled, normal hygiene rules should be applied;

• Mail should be opened by one person, with envelopes being discarded and the content left on the windowsill with staff told of any mail for their attention.  The staff member should then collect their mail.  At each point of contact with incoming mail, staff must either wash their hands or use sanitiser;  If possible ‘WHO’ advice is to wear gloves when dealing with paperwork from an unknown source;

• Movement around the office space must be kept to a minimum, with trips to the printer and downstairs done as infrequently as possible.  If a staff member is to move throughout the office space, a verbal warning of movement to all other staff members should be made;

• Staff should not handle each others food or drink, including cups, plates etc., and no physical contact should be made at any point; It is recommended by the ‘WHO’, that staff should bring their food and drink with them each day.  There should be no communal cake/biscuits or any food left within the office space;

• All face to face meetings that can be avoided should be; If not, then they must be completed whilst enforcing all social distancing rules;

• All rubbish from desks must be discarded in the bins under your own desk, no rubbish must be placed in other bins;

• ​

Given the changeable nature of this pandemic and the risk of one person infecting many in a closed environment, if you suspect that you have had contact, outside of the office space with the virus, you should not attend the office.  Or, if a family member with whom you share your home becomes unwell. Notify your line manager and if necessary, isolate yourself at home.  It is recommended that staff take their laptops home each day to facilitate continuing work under these circumstances, if appropriate.

​

Customer Visits

​

As a responsible employer and supplier to our clients, we wish to ensure that we fulfil our obligations to protect our clients, staff and the general public at all times.

​

Where appropriate all relevant PPE must be utilised, and will be provided as required.  

​

When visiting the location of a client, their recommendations and requests for social distancing must be adhered to whilst ensuring that our own recommendations are not diminished in any way.

​

Assault on Staff

​

It is a sad reflection on our society that we have to prepare for the eventuality of an assault being made on our staff members or partners, however, as this is a possibility, as a responsible employer we must ensure that extra measures are followed in addition to the normal procedures in place.

​

In the event of an assault of any nature relating to an exposure to CoVid19 takes place the member of staff involved, or others working on their behalf must:

​

After ensuring all possible measures to preserve the safety of the victim of the assault have been completed, you must contact the Police and report this as an assault.  This should be a priority with all relevant known information being passed to the Police to allow for any prosecution to take place.  Witnesses details should be gleaned and where possible, an accident report form should be completed there and then.  If this cannot happen immediately, then it should be done at the earliest possible opportunity.

​

1. The activity of alerting the Police may well instigate an investigation by both the HSE and RIDDOR, therefore make sure that all relevant supervisors and managers are aware both at JWW.life and if relevant, the Senior Management at the site where the assault took place.  This can be done by a colleague on your behalf if, as the victim of the assault you do not feel able to continue.

2. If you believe that your health has been put at risk by the assault, you must consult medical attention for guidance/assistance.  DO NOT CONTINUE TO WORK IN AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE YOU FEEL YOU ARE BEING PUT AT AN UNNECESSARY RISK.

​

World Health Organisation Advice states:

Workers should not be attending work with symptoms of a fever (37.8C) or a new continuous cough

​

If a worker’s symptoms start at the workplace, they must return home without delay to start self-isolation; if well enough, they can drive their own vehicle, alternatively they should request a member of their household pick them up immediately. If neither is possible, the worker can take public or private transport home directly to start self-isolation. If using public transport, they should try to keep away from other people and catch coughs and sneezes in a tissue. If they don’t have any tissues available, they should cough and sneeze into the crook of the elbow.

​

If they are so unwell that they require an ambulance, phone 999 and let the call handler know you are concerned about COVID-19. Whilst you wait for advice or an ambulance to arrive, try to find somewhere safe for the unwell person to sit which is at least 2 meters away from other people. 

​

If possible and it is safe to do so, find a room or area where they can be isolated behind a closed door, such as a staff office or meeting room. If it is possible to open a window, do so for ventilation. The individual should avoid touching people, surfaces and objects and be advised to cover their mouth and nose with a disposable tissue when they cough or sneeze, and then put the tissue in the bin. If no bin is available, put the tissue in a bag or pocket for disposing in a bin later. If you don’t have any tissues available, they should cough and sneeze into the crook of their elbow.

​

It is believed that by fulfilling the instructions contained within this document we present the best opportunity for the continuation of our business without interruption and illness of key colleagues and clients.  Further directives will be forthcoming as and when it is appropriate to do so.

​

John Wilson

Partner

​

​