With 7 published amendments between July 2021 and the end of October 2021, the Working safely during coronavirus (COVID-19) Government guidance has seen a further 9 updates since the beginning of November 2021 to date.
England has moved to Plan B in response to the risks, meaning:
- “face coverings are required by law in some public indoor settings, such as shops, takeaways, (where there is no space for consumption of food or drink on the premise), and cinemas
- office workers who can work from home should do so
- certain venues and events are required by law to check the COVID status of customers using the NHS COVID Pass or other accepted proof”
For those managing the workplace, it should also trigger a need to review your COVID-19 Secure risk assessment and adjust any controls as necessary to reflect the changes against your current work requirements.
This could see for some sectors and organisations a re-introduction of previously relaxed controls, while for other little or no discernible workplace changes (depending on the staffing levels and extent of maintained COVID-19 related controls of course). For our part , at Assurity Consulting, we’re already well over 20 revisions to our COVID-19 Secure risk assessment, as indeed are many of the customers we are working with.
Should you need any help or support in reviewing, assessing or sense-checking your COVID-19 Secure risk assessment and/or procedures, please get in touch.