The Leadership Team here at Zip Water have been working closely with our Culligan UK colleagues and an external health and safety consultant to follow government advice and best practice, ensuring a safe environment for our employees, contractors, and customers.
We have carried out a Covid-19 risk assessment and it is important to share the results with you. As with any risk assessment, it will be continuously reviewed, and we actively encourage feedback from our employees and customers.
You can view our policy statement here, and certificate here.
Prior to booking appointments with our customers a verbal risk assessment is conducted to establish if anyone in their household has been suffering from symptoms within the last 14 days, this is repeated on the day of the visit by our engineers before entering the home.
Any staff who are displaying symptoms or live with anyone displaying symptoms are not permitted to work and must follow the most up to date guidance on self-isolation.
Working from home
- - We have taken all reasonable steps to help people work from home.
- - Employees who work from home complete a ‘home working risk assessment’ to ensure they are supported and able to work from home effectively and safely.
- - Where working from home is not possible, employees are encouraged not to use public transport to travel to and from work, and employees from different households should not carshare.
Social Distancing (maintaining a 2m distance)
We’ve made some adaptations to the office workspace to ensure that, wherever possible, we can comply with the 2 metre social distancing rule and keep us all safe. This includes:
- - Having conversations with our customers to explain we will be practicing the 2m social distancing while working within their home.
- - Refraining from handshakes or close contact with customers or colleagues.
- - Implementing a one-way system through both the office and the warehouse.
- - Creating ‘Social Distancing Zones’, such as the kitchen and restroom facilities, capping the number of people in these areas at one time. This is indicated by clear signage and floor markings.
- - Ensuring desks and workstations are at least 2m apart.
- - Staggered shift and lunch/break times to reduce the amount of people using the same areas at the same time.
- - Eating lunch at your desk/workstation and bringing your own refreshments to minimise physical contact with work surfaces and taps.
- - Physically moving tables/chairs so they are 2m apart.
Where people cannot be 2 metres apart, we have done everything practical to manage transmission risk. This includes:
- - Keeping the number of people working less than 2m apart to a minimum.
- - Avoiding face-to-face working, for example working side-by-side or back-to-back.
- - Reducing the number of people in the work area.
- - Keeping people to shift teams so people on the same shift working in the same team to limit social interactions.
- - Our risk assessments reflect the fact that the role of PPE in providing additional protection is extremely limited (as per government guidance). However, we have provided any customer facing roles and those who unavoidably work within 2m with PPE as an addition to social distancing, hygiene and fixed teams and partnering. Those who wish to wear PPE while working, or at a customer’s request, are welcome to.
Cleaning, handwashing, and hygiene procedures
- - All our employees have been instructed and encouraged to adopt regular hand washing and cleaning procedures for their workstations, tools, equipment and vehicles.
- - Hand sanitiser and anti-bacterial wipes have been provided to all staff, both in the office and field, and hand sanitiser stations have been set up around the factory building and communal areas.
- - Field staff must apply hand sanitiser and wear disposable gloves when arriving at customer properties. On completion of a job all tools and surfaces touched must be cleaned with anti-bacterial wipes and hands washed. PPE and rubbish will be removed from the customer’s home and disposed of securely by our engineers.
- - Wherever possible, shared equipment has been restricted to fixed teammates, and additional cleaning and hygiene encouraged.
- - We have stopped the use of shared kitchen utensils and communal crockery and cutlery and encouraged employees to bring their own and store with their personal items.
- - Encouraging employees to stay on-site during working hours and bring food and refreshments from home to reduce the need to visit food/drink outlets.
- - Our field staff must refrain from accepting refreshments from customers.
- - During the period where our offices have been empty, we have taken the opportunity to ensure a deep clean was completed by our external cleaning company.
If you would like to view a copy of our full risk assessment, please email: employeeguidanceuk@culligan.com
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