PMs message

Grandad given that you repeatedly poise yourself as a business expert on GN I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you are asking to test me.

Because if you really do not get the basics of H&S... well you need to address that ASAP and not just because of covid.

Its about working down through the hierarchy. Try to achieve the "best", if you cant, move down to the next best

Remove the contact. this is social distancing. If this isnt possible move down the hierarchy

I cant risk assess YOUR tasks ot needs to be done by someone who understands the tasks well (take note Steimer!)

First remove
then reduce
then do it if you still have to with PPE and hygiene

If remove cant be achieved with current working can the work be changed? (is there a method that makes a 2 man job a 1 man job (e.g. nurses can use machines as a "second checker" so less staff exposed in the task.

Substitutions may not produce as good an end product as a two man job but if the risk is worth reducing then it might be worth the comprimise. Can you do a slighly less perfect (but still acceptable) job by doing it differenly in a less risky way

If you cant remove the contact reduce it, if 2 people are needed for part of a task, rearrange the way the job is laid out so that they are only doubled up for the least time possible. Staggering may be applicable here in some work places.

For when close contact is inevitible, barriers, PPE and hygiene. But only once you have exhausted all other methods of removing or reducing the contact.

Gabriella PPE is never the first line its always the last (least effective) line of defense.

It is preferable to eliminate the contact than to have contact with PPE on.

I went to a zero contact shop today: scanned my own item and card payment only behind a screen. No need for staff to wear gloves because they had cut out all direct contact between till staff and customer which is the gold standard.

If floor staff arent having direct contact (like handling multiple peoples money) and are handwashing before going on the floor what exactly do you thing gloves add in terms of protection?

notanan2, in regard to your post-@20:59 today, with your obvious expertise in safe working practises, can you please advise me how social distancing can be maintained when in regard to vehicle servicing it takes, by example, two vehicle technicians working together in a pit to remove a gearbox from an HGV Vehicle.

Or in the same respect perhaps you can advise on where in distribution centres two-person manual handling is often required in lifting objects and loading vehicles.

I await your response.

I could continue with many other working Scenarios, but answers to the two above will suffice as a start.

Basics still apply.

well yes, although neither hairdressers or hospitality (as we know it, some exceptions) are going back yet but when they do the basics of H&S apply whether its adapting for covid or for an employee thats developed an allergy. If this is new to you you have no business running a business

www.gbshealthandsafety.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Risk-Assessment-Why-and-How.png

Staff in my nearest M&S food hall do not wear gloves or masks and only 2 shoppers wore masks and 2 different shoppers wore gloves, their own ordinary ones.
Waitrose almost identical. Tesco, all till staff wear gloves. Neither Tesco nor Sainsos delivery drivers wore masks or gloves.

notanan2 you are right businesses have been adapting during to the lockdown. My SIL went back to work today, construction work in the village has continued, local building supplier has adapted, the NHS has adjusted hugely, more homeworking is happening, cafes are now offering take always, my DS has not stopped working for telecommunications and precautions have been introduced, farmers are still working. It's the personal services like hairdressers that present difficulties and hospitality sector which is suffering

So I can meet my DIL in the Park and my OH can meet my YS in the park and we are all 2 Mtrs apart But my OH and I can’t meet my YS and DiL together 2 mtrs apart as that is a “gathering? “ - am I the only one who thinks this is b*ll*cks?

I agree it is completely chaotic and a very worrying situation for workers who will feel that they are being forced back to work in unsafe conditions. Unfortunately many will not have a union to protect them.

I also think this could spark a constitutional crisis. Surely if Sunak withdraws funding for the furlough scheme, it will not be compatible with the Scottish, Welsh and NI's rules on lockdown which have not changed.

Fancy that. Arlene Foster speaking more sense than BJ!

Its not rocket science.

Lots of businesses have been opened all along . Businesses adapting to CV19 is not something that is starting this week. It has already happened across many sectors.

Social distance where possible.
Where not possible minimise contact, barriers, hygiene.

Look around. Supernarkets, hardware stores, pharmacies, food take aways, health facilities... they've all adjusted its not a new concept at this point.

5.22 mins video and it explains the psychology behind the speech.

www.facebook.com/642444842524195/videos/2664289803816535

The situation tonight (11/05 20) in regard to workplace safety and the preparations employers are expected to make for the return of their workers can be summed up in two words " total chaos".

The Prime Minister has spoken twice in the last twenty-four hours and did not point out at any time that the crisis regulations for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland now directly contradict what the regulations are in England.

After great confusion, it is now clear that companies can re-open on Wednesday but there is the problem that employers will not receive the government briefing and guidance on creating a safe working environment, as far as possible, until tomorrow (Tuesday). No matter what efforts an employer may take, in many circumstances social distancing cannot always be maintained in a large number of workplace operations.

However, many employers are feeling that the above may leave them open to claims by employees of failure in regard to Employers Duty of Care should Covid-19 break out among workers at any site.

Far more consultation was required with employers, unions, The Health & Safety Executive and such specialist occupational safety organisations such as IOSH.

Sadly no such consultations have taken place, therfore, and as stated, there is now total chaos with many employers and employees very worried in regard to the future.

@maddyone

In view of your determined insistence that Johnson said in his speech last night that people should return to work on Wenesday, and your frequently expressed scorn in posts on this thread of people who appear to have been confused by his speech, I am going to repost the pertinent extract and wait for an acknowledgement from you that Johnson did not, in that speech, say that people should return to work on Wednesday and I hope that you might feel a smidgeon of embarrassment at being so patronising to other posters when in fact you were clearly confused as well.

And the first step is a change of emphasis that we hope that people will act on this week.

We said that you should work from home if you can, and only go to work if you must. We now need to stress that anyone who can’t work from home, for instance those in construction or manufacturing, should be actively encouraged to go to work.

And we want it to be safe for you to get to work. So you should avoid public transport if at all possible – because we must and will maintain social distancing, and capacity will therefore be limited. So work from home if you can, but you should go to work if you can’t work from home. And to ensure you are safe at work we have been working to establish new guidance for employers to make workplaces Covid-secure. And when you do go to work, if possible do so by car or even better by walking or bicycle. But just as with workplaces, public transport operators will also be following Covid-secure standards.

And from this Wednesday, we want to encourage people to take more and even unlimited amounts of outdoor exercise. You can sit in the sun in your local park, you can drive to other destinations, you can even play sports, but only with members of your own household.

Some individual families rely heavily on grandparents for childcare but most dont because:

- these days most grandparents are still working themselves when GC are small
- families are spread out
- not all GPs would be able
- not all GPs would be willing

if your family members usually rely on GP childcare and really cant imagine any other way of sorting themselves out then they must be quite blinkered/self centred.
Because if they even briefly looked around at all the other parents without GP childcare they would have noticed many multiples of configurations of ways of making it work to consider.

Calendargirl
I couldn't agree more.
Some people just beggar belief.

but babysitting or babysitting

Nanna58

If parents can't do any of those things re childcare, and there are some nurseries open for key workers, one parent is going to have to stay at home, possibly the lower earner.
It's not my job to find your solutions.

I made it quite clear to my own children that they must not rely on me for money but babysitting.
They have not asked me for money and I live too far away to babysit anyway.
I looked after minecon my own when my ex DH was away working.
No help from mum and anyway, she lived 100+ miles away.
It was my choice to have children therefore my responsibility to care for them.

If you need to rely on GPs to look after your children then maybe it's time to reassess your work, home life and living standards.
Do couples ask their parents if they are willing to be a largely unpaid babysitting/ school-run service before deciding to have children, or do they, in general, just assume they will?

My own view is that you bring up your family to live independently and my role is a bonus but not something they factor into their work and finances as someone to borrow money from or take part in raising their children.

Many GNer's lives revolve around their GC and to a slightly lesser extent, their AC and they live a large part of their lives through them.
In essence...parents should work out if they can they afford children without outside help or not. If not, there is only one answer, don't have any.

draganal
I again, question the mindset if some GNers who come on here asking others if it's ok to do this or that.
WE only know what you know, can only find out what you can find out, read what you can read and hear what you can hear on any and all media.
Coming on here for ourtake on you hugging and visiting with your GC and their family is the most ridiculous act ever and deserves a ridiculous answer.
Go...take all your friends, have a party in invite the press. We'll all do it. Sound good to you?
Gordon Bennett.
I make no excuses for writing this way.
I thought you might treasure your GC and family a little more than that.
What they choose to do should not impact on your decisions.

By failing to pursue TTI from the start, and because lockdown has of necessity been reasonably stringent, it is going to be much more difficult to get it right coming out of it.

TTI is absolutely essential.

Moggie57
You can travel...to the edges of England, should you so wish and see your brother or anyone else as long as you keep 2 metres apart at all times, not in their home but outside, a park a beach, a wood.
Remember, if you flout the rules there will be others doing the same thing and then if we all ignored the rules you, I and many others could end up in a mortuary.
Not a happy thought.
Some individuals think a sneaky hug or kiss won't matter, no-one's looking.
The responsibility to ourselves, our family and the wider public is on all our shoulders.
Do the right thing, is my mantra.

Having got that irritation out of the way.

I shall return to the test trace and isolate strategy and it seems that whoever gave the advise to stop it way back in March was entirely incorrect and i am disappointed in the apparent lack of accountability.

The top down, I.e. pushing down onto the virus by social distancing, isolating etc may not have needed to be so severe if the TTI strategy had never been abandoned.

But I didn’t ask you to police my posts notanan I asked the question I wished to ask, not one you think I should have asked.

You are making assumptions about my thought processes that are entirely incorrect.

You need to take a deeper breath before you answer.

Why could you not maintain social distancing in your garden?

notanan you have answered a question I didn’t ask.

Read it again lol.
I wasnt answering you. I corrected you (in bold)

Not your garden, but you can meet in a park, but must maintain social distancing.