Manufacturing and Processing Companies – Social Distancing Guidance

Manufacturing and Processing Companies – Social Distancing Guidance

The importance of the Manufacturing and Processing sectors to the economy are recognised by Government and as such, once again the Government has stated that manufacturing can continue, if done in accordance with the Social Distancing, Health and Safety guidance as per the Public Health England guidelines.

In their most recent update published (8 April 2020) the Government advises Manufacturers and Processors to follow these guidelines:

1. If you decide it is safe to continue manufacturing, staff should work side by side or facing away from each other rather than face-to-face if possible.
2. You should increase the frequency of cleaning procedures, pausing production in the day if necessary for cleaning staff to wipe down workstations with disinfectant.
3. You should assign staff to the same shift teams to limit social interaction.
4. You should not allow staff to congregate in break times; you should consider arrangements such as staggered break times so that staff can continue to practice social distancing when taking breaks.
5. You should communicate to all staff that they should wash their hands with soap and water for 20 seconds or more at the beginning and end of every break, when they arrive at work and before they leave.
6. You should consider adding additional pop-up handwashing stations or facilities, providing soap, water and/or hand sanitiser.
7. When entering and leaving, you should ensure your workforce stays 2 metres apart as much as possible.

To protect your staff, you should remind colleagues daily to only come into work if they are well and no one in their household is self-isolating.

To find out more about the Government Social Distancing visit here and Public Health England’s safety guidelines please visit the website here