Covid 19 Staff Workplace Guide

COVID 19 STAFF WORKPLACE GUIDE

TABLE OF CONTENT Introduction

02

Guiding Principles

02

Key Principles

03

Public Health Guidelines

04

Workplace Hygiene

05

Social Distancing

07

Personal Protective Equipment

09

Safer Working Practices

09

Meetings

09

Curriculum Delivery

10

Health and Wellbeing

10

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INTRODUCTION This guide has been designed to provide all members of staff with information on how the College plans to return to business during the on-going Covid-19 crisis.

In planning for the re-opening of campuses, the College will continue to adhere to the latest public health advice, including the need to maintain social distancing.

This guide must be read by all employees returning to work on any College campus.

Staff returning to site will also be required to undertake the SERC Covid-19 mandatory on-line training module prior to return and commit to the measures as set out.

This guide will be updated to reflect latest Government advice

GUIDING PRINCIPLES The safety, health and wellbeing of everyone is of paramount importance and this is the primary concern and purpose of this guide.

The College will continue to encourage, as far as possible, staff to work from home, however, as we prepare for the new academic year there will be an increasing need for staff to return to campuses and face to face delivery.

This guide sets out principles and practical steps that SERC employees will be required to follow to keep themselves and the workplace safe. It also sets out necessary steps to be followed if employees are concerned about safety.

This guide is intended to be universally used across all College campuses and does not replace existing legislation or industry-specific guidance.

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KEY PRINCIPLES Health and Safety SERC will continue to fulfil its legal duties under existing health and safety law to maintain and protect the physical and mental health, safety and welfare of its employees, students and visitors. The College will take all reasonably practical measures to implement a safe working environment for all its staff.

Employees have a legal and contractual responsibility to the College as their employer and each other to follow instructions regarding safe working practices. Everyone should approach the health, safety and wellbeing of each other in the College with compassion and understanding.

Communication The College will circulate safety messages regularly to all employees and students using existing communication channels including email and website. The College will also use posters and other visual aids around campuses to help reinforce safety messages.

Consultation The College will consult with employees and/or their recognised trade union appointed health and safety representative, on the required steps to keep the campuses and its users safe from the virus. The College management will have regular and meaningful engagement with staff and/or their recognised trade union through the campus health and safety committees and Joint Consultative Forum about the Covid-19 emergency.

These engagements provide additional opportunities to remind everyone about safe working practices, necessary precautions, and to share concerns. College management and employees and/or their recognised trade union or other representatives have a shared responsibility to work together to resolve concerns about safety in the workplace.

Prepare the Workforce In general staff will be expected to continue to work remotely for as long as it is practical and realistic to do so. They will only be expected to work on College premises where there is a business need, have been advised by a line manager and deemed by the College it is safe to do so. Staff that are successfully working remotely at present will be expected to do so until notified otherwise.

Initial activity to return to on-site delivery will be based only on activity that MUST be delivered and is being compromised through remote working arrangements. Staff that do return to work on College premises will be expected to work in the buildings that are available, which may be a change from their normal working location. This will require greater flexibility from staff in terms of accommodating changes to normal working locations, hours of work and/or equipment. This may also require changes to pre-existing teaching practices.

Robust staff guidance and training providing clarity on health and safety practice and working arrangements will be in place prior to buildings being re-opened.

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PUBLIC HEALTH GUIDELINES Employees with Suspected Symptoms of Covid-19 SERC will ensure that all employees are aware of the symptoms of the virus; by referring employees to Public Health information and through the SERC Covid-19 online training module.

College Management will keep themselves and their teams informed of updates to public health guidance.

Employees who have symptoms of the virus must let their manager know immediately, follow public health advice and stay at home. If the symptoms come on while at work, the employee must go home immediately while informing your line manager.

An ‘isolation room’ has been designated on each campus if an employee cannot leave immediately – this will be cleaned thoroughly afterwards in line with public health advice.

Employees who are designated as extremely vulnerable, and subject to ‘shielding’ letters are strongly advised to stay at home at all times. They should also avoid any face to face contact. These measures are in place for a period of at least 12 weeks from the day they are informed by the NHS or their GP that they fall into this category. The employee should inform their line manager and Human Resources should this be the case. In these circumstances employees will be expected to work from home where possible and line managers will ensure measures are in place to facilitate this.

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WORKPLACE HYGIENE Good personal hygiene and infection control practices will be reinforced including: Posters & Signage Posters and messages to be used across all entry and circulation areas to reinforce the importance of adhering to personal hygiene measures - covering coughs and sneezes.

Handwashing The College currently provides facilities for everyone to wash their hands with soap and hot water for at least 20 seconds, and/or hand sanitiser where hand washing facilities are not available.

Everyone should wash their hands when they get home or into College, and while at work, after blowing their nose, sneezing or coughing, eating or handling food.

College will provide adequate washing facilities and/or hand sanitiser across campuses, e.g. entrances, rest/breakout rooms, and canteens.

Cleaning The College has put in place additional ‘touch point’ cleaning measures including regular cleaning of touch points, such as door handles, hand rails, lift buttons, vending machines, and clocking-in systems.

We will provide antibacterial wipes or sprays for use when using a toilet - everyone should wipe the door handle, toilet flush, tap and exit door handle as it will not be possible to have a cleaner on site following each toilet use.

Pedal bins will be deployed removing the use of hand operated waste bins.

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Desk Management All staff will be provided with bacterial wipes for keyboards and screens. A clear desk policy will also be reinforced. We should seek to minimise the use of shared tools. Where this is not possible then each equipment must be cleaned after each user.

IT Rooms Anti-Bacterial wipes will be provided in all classes, with lecturers and students taking personal responsibility for wiping down their machines before and after use. Lecturers must add this to their classroom management protocols at the start and end of each session.

Equipment and Tools Similar equipment cleaning regimes should be introduced in other practical based subjects e.g. hairdressing, hospitality, construction trades etc. where multiple students access and use individual items.

Specialist Workshops and Salons Specific steps will need to be taken when we bring both staff and students back in to workshops, salons and kitchens. This is likely to involve the wearing of PPE, measures to promote social distancing and minimising contact with surfaces touched by others with specific arrangements detailed with the relevant risk assessment for each area.

Staff Kitchen and Work Areas New practices will be introduced in staff kitchen and meal preparation areas, which will include measures such as: - Encouraging staff to bring food and beverage items from home and manage them individually; - Minimise touchpoints by removing/disconnecting toasters, kettles, microwaves and the like; - Eliminate open food items; - Staff should therefore bring pre-prepared food to College thus removing the need for provision and use of utensils and cutlery in work.

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SOCIAL DISTANCING Space distancing solutions will be used to reduce transmission of Covid-19.

We must do everything to ensure that where possible social distancing of 2m is observed throughout our campus buildings. For working practices which necessitate closer working than the recommended public health advice, these will be facilitated with appropriate safety measures, such as PPE or protective screening.

Solutions that will be put in place include;

Screening Physical screening or barriers may be deployed where spacial distancing may not be possible e.g.

Reception areas by campus, areas where staff meet members of the general public, canteen/cafĂŠ and pay points.

Circulation Within Campuses - Steps will be taken in campus buildings to reinforce directional flow of people; - Directional arrows in corridors; - One-way circulation routes - Restricted use of lifts (single person)

Queue Control Floors will also be marked in key areas to reinforce social distance where queues could form e.g. reception, canteens, LRC. Specific controls will be considered for staff and student toilet areas to control numbers using facilities at any point.

Office Seating - Use of a range of measures including reduced team size on campus, use of alternate desks and removal of desks to reinforce social distancing; - Specific seat arrangements for employees to ensure safe working distances, avoiding face to face.

Meeting & Shared Spaces - Decommission and re-purpose of large gathering spaces e.g. foyer areas - Reduce capacity of spaces—e.g. remove some chairs from large meeting rooms - Prohibit shared use of small rooms by groups and convert to single occupant use only

Canteen Seating Reduce and arrange canteen seating to reinforce social distancing.

Mobile Coffee Docks We will seek to introduce mobile coffee docks to encourage distribution of people more widely within a campus.

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Classrooms & Workshops - Carry out an assessment of all teaching spaces and restrict number of persons using these facilities to ensure social distancing can be observed; - Deploy and use PPE in teaching environments where it is deemed necessary; - Develop guidelines for lecturers to re-inforce social distancing and the use of PPE in teaching environments.

Student Timetabling - Staggered break and lunch breaks will be introduced as an additional measure aimed at minimising the opportunity for large gatherings.

- Class groups will as far as possible be timetabled within the same room.

Student Activities We should avoid, as far as possible, any activity that is likely to lead to groups of students and staff coming together unnecessarily in a closed area – student trips, student activities including sports, face to face meetings etc

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PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT The College will provide PPE as required following appropriate risk assessments.

We must do everything to ensure that where possible social distancing of 2m is observed throughout our campus buildings. For working practices which necessitate closer working than the recommended public health advice, these will be facilitated with appropriate safety measures, such as PPE or protective screening.

SAFER WORKING PRACTICES Non-essential travel should be avoided. Where travel cannot be avoided, employees should travel alone wherever possible.

When employees use a vehicle with others, try to travel with the same person, preferably with one in the front and one in the back of the vehicle and ensure good ventilation.

Practice social distancing when using car parks and smoking shelters.

If employees have no alternative but to use public transport to travel to work, they should continue to observe social distancing.

MEETINGS Meetings are to be conducted by telephone or Microsoft Teams, whenever possible.

Where physical meetings cannot be avoided, effective social distancing measures must be adhered to.

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CURRICULUM DELIVERY The continued use of social distancing will result in changes to how we deliver our curriculum at all levels for the new academic year.

Courses are normally timetabled for a designated number of hours per week against unit lecturers and in rooms/workshops. The physical size of rooms/workshops will be limiting factors in terms of the number of students that can be safely brought together for lessons while maintaining appropriate levels of social distancing. It is also recognised that in certain workshop and specialist areas, social distancing also poses additional challenges that may require additional steps including the use of PPE. The College will adapt a flexible approach to developing new delivery models that will include the use of remote learning, flipped classrooms and in some cases moving to a blended form of delivery. In setting out the new approaches to curriculum delivery models, every effort will be made to provide the same curriculum offer and maximise student intake. It is acknowledged that these new delivery models may lead to smaller class sizes, increased number of classes and delivery hours to support remote learning.

The continued reliance on remote learning will result in a re-prioritisation of employee development planning. Support will be provided to lecturers and teams in advance of and during the new academic year.

HEALTH AND WELLBEING Employees are encouraged to raise any concerns they have through their line manager in the first instance.

Employees are often better placed to put ideas forward on how to resolve concerns. This can be achieved through early dialogue and consultation.

Looking after your own wellbeing The emergence of the coronavirus has led to change, uncertainty and challenges and employees may have feelings of stress and isolation whilst adapting to new ways of working. Employees’ health, safety and wellbeing are paramount and the College will continue to keep employees updated on issues such as working from home effectively; activities to help manage family and relationships and advice on taking care of your physical, mental and social wellbeing.

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