In the upcoming weeks, further restrictions regarding COVID safety may be reduced or completely removed following assessments by Government across the nation. This poses important steps for fire safety service providers/contractors, including reviewing your own COVID safety policies in the interest of employee and client safety. BAFE would like to offer the following guidance considering removal or reduction of restrictions:

• Continue to exercise a risk-based approach prior to visiting a site to perform work. What is the current policy of your client? What requirements are they expecting you to follow when on-site? Do they require evidence of negative rapid lateral flow tests of technicians/engineers? What would you like them to do in helping reduce any risk of possible transmission to your employees?

• Continue to wear a mask, especially when indoors in areas with limited ventilation and/or high capacity of people within the space available. The World Health Organisation (WHO) continue to recommend mask wearing “as part of a comprehensive strategy of measures to suppress transmission and save lives”. Government note “to help reduce the spread of COVID-19, published guidance will advise that wearing a face covering will reduce your risk and the risk to others, where you come into contact with people you don’t normally meet in enclosed and crowded spaces”.

• Consider contacting clients with buildings that may require provisions/system maintenance visits prior to opening at full capacity. The last thing any business would like at this time is failure of any fire safety provisions in place causing disruption. Are any maintenance visits overdue? Help premises/business management be confident they can now operate “as normal” knowing they have exercised due diligence with their fire safety responsibilities.

BAFE trust that all BAFE Registered Companies will continue to exercise good judgment to keep employees, clients, and other people you may encounter safe. This includes the now habitual acts of washing/sanitising hands regularly, keeping rooms well ventilated, wearing masks on-site around others and importantly as pointed out by Government, “staying at home if unwell, to reduce the risk of passing on other illnesses onto friends, family, colleagues, and others in your community”. Rules vary between each country in the UK. As we begin the roadmap back to a relative normal environment, we strongly recommend continuing to review your own risk assessments concerning COVID-19 safety when guidance is updated by the appropriate Government.

Update: Government Guidance Working safely during coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance from Step 4 (England) is now available for review https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-covid-19 (Published 14/07/2021).

Update: Scottish Government Guidance Coronavirus (COVID-19): returning to offices https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-returning-to-offices/ (Published 02/07/2021) has been updated 15/07/2021.

Source: Government COVID-19 Response: Summer 2021 (Published 05/07/2021)

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-response-summer-2021-roadmap/covid-19-response-summer-2021#enable-the-public-to-make-informed-decisions

Source: WHO Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public (01/07/2021)

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public