The Hospitality Industry Reopening in a Covid-Secure Way
As we emerge from 3 months of lockdown, Boris Johnson announced that from 4 July 2020 the 2m distancing guidance will change in England and a raft of non-essential businesses can reopen if they have applied ‘COVID-proofing’ measures.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOU?
Pubs, Bars & Restaurants
- Can open indoors and outdoors
- Emphasis on table service indoors to avoid crowding at bars
- Owners will be asked to keep contact details of customers to help with contact tracing
- Contact between staff and customers will be limited
- More hand-washing from staff and customers
Hotels, Holiday Apartments, Campsites & Caravan parks
- Private rooms in all indoor accommodation with en suite showering facilities, or one designated shower facility per guest room, will be able to reopen
- Shared facilities must be frequently cleaned with particular focus on all hand-contact points
SOME GUIDANCE ON HOW TO SAFELY RE-OPEN YOUR BUSINESS
Restarting your business after lockdown can present many significant challenges. You should plan ahead to manage this transition effectively and ensure that your business is not left open to potential damage and further disruption.
Pubs, Bars & Restaurants
- REASSESS LAYOUTS of internal and external spaces to ensure social distancing guidelines are met.
- STAFF TRAINING – Get your staff involved. Take a couple of days to trial run the new COVID-secure way of operating your establishment.
- SIGN POST IT - Floor and wall markings are the new norms. Make it clear to your customers what changes have been made and how they can help adhere to the social distancing measures you have put in place with clear signage.
- CONTROL NUMBERS – Have a member of staff on the door to control the number of customers in the premises at any one time. We’re all used to a queue now!
- PERSONAL CLEANING STATIONS – Your staff and customers will likely come equipped with their own supply of sanitizing products but you should also have these available at all times. Place sanitising products at the entrances and exits to encourage their use.
- REGULAR SANITISING – Increase the cleaning rota. Your staff should be vigilant in keeping the premises clean at all times to reduce virus transmission.
- FOLLOW GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE AT ALL TIMES - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/restaurants-offering-takeaway-or-delivery
Hotels, Holiday Apartments, Campsites & Caravan parks
- INSPECTION TIME- Check everything whilst you have the freedom to do this without interrupting guests. This will also mitigate the chances of any breakdown of any facilities in the coming months when you want your operation to be running as smoothly as possible.
- STAFF TRAINING – Encourage Staff to travel to work without using public transport. Get them on site in the next week to run through a COVID-secure way of working ahead of the opening day.
- PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT – Have readily available supplies for your staff should they need it.
- ENHANCED CLEANING- Increase numbers or shifts here to focus on additional cleaning of public areas.
- BOOKING SYSTEMS – With on-site eateries, consider a booking only system or pre-ordering. This way you minimise contact with staff and plan ahead with numbers and how to accommodate your guests.
- FOLLOW GOVERNMENT - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/hotels-and-other-guest-accommodation
RISK MANAGEMENT
Risk Management should be at the forefront of every decision you make as you reopen your business. You should be taking all the appropriate measures to ensure a safe environment for your employees, your customers and any other visitors.
As well as providing recommendations on how to adapt to working alongside the virus, we also want to provide you the tools to make the process a lot easier. There are so many great tools and resources that you have access to in the A&T Risk Management Service including our Risk Assessment Template which you can adapt to suit the needs of your business and we have now made free for everyone - download your copy.
If you have any questions about the A&T Risk Management Service or if you would like help with a specific resource, don't hesitate to get in contact with us. We also highly recommend speaking to your usual contact here at Alan & Thomas to ensure you have the correct covers in place if any covers have been reduced during the last few months.