COVID-19: workplace safety advice and resources
From 1 April 2022 the government has replaced the existing set of ‘Working Safely’ guidance with new public health guidance.
Official guidance on COVID-19 workplace safety
There are several guides covering a range of different types of work. You may need to use more than one of these guides as you think through what you need to do to keep people safe.
- Find sector specific advice about working safely on GOV.UK - includes construction, factories, research facilities, offices, shops and more.
Carry out a COVID-19 risk assessment
If you're a business, you must carry out a COVID-19 risk assessment to show you're taking reasonable steps to protect your workers from coronavirus. If you've 5 or more employees, you'll need to write up your risk assessment so you can demonstrate what safety measures you're taking.
As part of your risk assessment you must:
- Identify what work activities or situations might cause the virus to spread from one person to another and act to remove these activities or situations, if possible.
- Think about who could be at risk, such as employees, visitors, members of the public or contractors.
- Decide how likely it is that someone could be exposed to the virus.
- Talk to your staff about the risk assessment and communicate the outcome to them.
- Periodically review your risk assessment in light of changes to work activities or guidelines.
You may also find it helpful to:
How to make your workplace safer
Ways to make your workplace safer include:
- Following government guidance.
- Providing hand washing facilities or hand sanitisers.
- Displaying posters which remind your employees of good handwashing techniques.
Cleaning your workplace
Read some tips which may help you keep your workplace clean.
- Decide how frequently you need to clean the work areas, equipment and vehicles.
- Clean communal areas such as kitchens, bathrooms and staircase rails frequently.
- Use disposable cleaning products to clean all hard surfaces, floors, chairs, door handles and sanitary fittings. You should throw these away after one use.
- Use a disinfectant for cleaning and follow the instructions on the bottle.
Disposing of your business waste
Here's some advice for disposing of your business waste.
- Check that the company you hire to remove your trade waste is operating as normal with the same number of collections.
- Make sure your waste company supplies you with enough waste bins.
- Store your waste securely while waiting collection.
- PPE used by your employees, such as face masks, face coverings or gloves, should be bagged and then placed in your business' general waste bin.