Risk Assessment for the Hawkins Arms, Zelah TR4 9HU

Covid-19 is a new illness that can affect your lungs and airways. It is caused by a virus called Coronavirus. Symptoms can be mild, moderate, severe or fatal.

This is a Risk Assessment for dealing with the current Covid-19 situation in the workplace. This workplace being food preparation, cooking and service for restaurant, pub, takeaway and hotel kitchen.

We currently employ four permanent members of staff working a variety of shifts to prepare cook and serve food. Two young people (one under 16 and one under 20) help in the kitchen and restaurant area during the weekend to serve food and load and unload the dishwasher.

The business is open to the public from 5pm until the last customer leaves before midnight. Staff will be attending Hotel guests on the first and second floors of the building throughout the day. The managers currently remain on-sight as the licensees to the premises.

How the risk assessment was done.

The managers (Alexandra and Adam Hill) followed the advice at www.hse.gov.uk/simple-health-safety/risk/. To identify the hazards and risks, they:

• looked at the guidance on HSE’s web pages for catering and hospitality and young workers;
• walked around the kitchen, the stockroom and all other areas, noting things that might pose a risk;
• talked to staff to guide them on the current guidelines and learn from their knowledge and experience, and to listen to their concerns and opinions;
• looked at the accident book, to understand which risks previously resulted in incidents.

What are the hazards

Spread of Covid-19 Coronavirus

Who might be harmed

• Staff
• Visitors to your premises
• Cleaners
• Contractors
• Drivers
• Vulnerable groups – Elderly, Pregnant workers, those with existing underlying health conditions
• Anyone else who physically comes in contact with us in relation to our business

Controls Required

Employees to be reminded on a regular basis to wash their hands for 20 seconds with water and soap and the importance of proper drying with disposable towels. Also reminded to catch coughs and sneezes in tissues – Follow Catch it, Bin it, Kill it and to avoid touching face, eyes, nose or mouth with unclean hands. Tissues will be made available throughout the workplace.

Encourage staff to report any problems and carry out skin checks as part of a skin surveillance programme

To help reduce the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) reminding everyone of the public health advice

Posters, leaflets and other materials are available for display.

Cleaning

Frequently cleaning and disinfecting objects and surfaces that are touched regularly particularly in areas of high use such as door handles, light switches, reception area using appropriate cleaning products and methods.

Rigorous checks will be carried out by line managers to ensure that the necessary procedures are being followed.

Social Distancing

Reducing the number of persons in any work area to comply with the 1-metre (3.3 foot) gap recommended by the Public Health Agency.

Taking steps to review work schedules including start & finish times/shift patterns, etc. to reduce number of workers on site at any one time. Also relocating workers to other tasks.

Redesigning processes to ensure social distancing in place.

Conference calls to be used instead of face to face meetings.

Social distancing also to be adhered to inside and outside restaurant areas, car park and smoking area.

Staff to be reminded on a daily basis of the importance of social distancing both in the workplace and outside of it. Management checks to ensure this is adhered to.

Wearing of Gloves

Where Risk Assessment identifies wearing of gloves as a requirement of the job, an adequate supply of these will be provided. Staff will be instructed on how to remove gloves carefully to reduce contamination and how to dispose of them safely.

RPE

Public Health guidance on the use of PPE (personal protective equipment) to protect against COVID-19 relates to health care settings. In all other settings individuals are asked to observe social distancing measures and practice good hand hygiene behaviours

Where RPE is a requirement for risks associated with the work undertaken the following measures will be followed.

Tight-fitting respirators (such as disposable FFP3 masks and reusable half masks) rely on having a good seal with the wearer’s face. A face fit test will be carried out to ensure the respiratory protective equipment (RPE) can protect the wearer.

Wearers must be clean shaven. Otherwise a face shield is to be worn. We provide these for our staff unless they prefer to wear their own.

To minimise the risk of transmission of COVID-19 during face-fit testing the following additional measures should be carried out –

Both the fit tester and those being fit tested should wash their hands before and after the test.

Those being fit tested with non-disposable masks should clean the mask themselves before and immediately after the test using a suitable disinfectant cleaning wipe (check with manufacturer to avoid damaging the mask).

Test face pieces that cannot be adequately disinfected (e.g. disposable half masks) should not be used by more than one individual.

Fit testers should wear disposable gloves when undertaking cleaning of the tubes, hoods etc. and ensure they remove gloves following the correct procedure (PDF)

Reference

Symptoms of Covid-19

If anyone becomes unwell with a new continuous cough or a high temperature in the workplace they will be sent home and advised to follow the stay at home guidance.

Line managers will maintain regular contact with staff members during this time.

If advised that a member of staff or public has developed Covid-19 and were recently on our premises (including where a member of staff has visited other work place premises such as domestic premises), the management team of the workplace will contact the Public Health Authority to discuss the case, identify people who have been in contact with them and will take advice on any actions or precautions that should be taken.

Internal communication channels and cascading of messages through line managers will be carried out regularly to reassure and support employees in a fast changing situation.

Line managers will offer support to staff who are affected by Coronavirus or has a family member affected.

Mental Health

Management will promote mental health & wellbeing awareness to staff during the Coronavirus outbreak and will offer whatever support they can to help

Reference

Regular communication of mental health information and open door policy for those who need additional support.