Covid Continues

Covid-19 will undoubtedly be the story of 2020. It is set to dominate our lives this year.

• At the start of the year the virus seemed very far away and unlikely to trouble us here in Great SARS and MERS had been two previous viruses that didn’t make an impact on these shores, and many of us thought Covid-19 would be the same. However, it has fast become a worldwide pandemic and has affected all of our lives to some extent.

As we write this the initial peak has been controlled and cases are diminishing. This has meant that the restrictions on our daily lives are being eased gently. The three week review period for easing of restrictions allows time for signs of any negative impact on infection rates to be seen. All three countries now have plans in place to ease restrictions in phases.

While there are subtle differences in the plans and the various easements will come at different times, the consistent message of working from home where possible will remain for some time, and where work cannot be done from home, social distancing and hygiene requirements will remain in place for the foreseeable future.

In order to highlight these necessities, we have adapted our Insist on Safety logo to support and remind people of the need for Safe Distancing. We will be using this in various ways in the coming weeks.

Tilhill has been part of a group helping to prepare a new FISA Guide on working safely during Covid-19. This is due for publishing imminently and has drawn upon the guidance from many companies in the sector and with contractor input to ensure there are workable examples of the precautions that need to be taken. We are already seeing increased footfall in forests and parks, so all sites must keep their risk assessment regarding public activity under review and ensure that the controls in place remain effective to protect the public from our activities.

 

Sanity with Sanitisers
Bottles of hand sanitisers must be stored in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions. They require storage away from heat due to the alcohol content. Consider how warm it may get if left in your vehicle during the day.

There are two issues being seen:

• Hot temperatures can cause the alcohol content to evaporate reducing how well the sanitiser works.
• Hot sanitiser bottles have squirted liquid sanitiser when the bottle top has been opened.

There was also a case where a person suffered burns to their hand when static electricity set light to the sanitiser on their hand when they touched something while their hands were still wet with sanitiser.