Ensure that all staff have training on general hygiene specific to your product and production system.

Ensuring effective hand washing is in place for all employees

Place a strong emphasis on the need for staff to declare if they are unwell and if so not attend their place of work

Ensure that you stay up to date with and follow the advice from your relevant health authority

If practice temperature check all staff entering and exiting any of the business’ sites at the start and the end of the day using an appropriate laser thermometer

It is likely to require having temperature checking equipment at the office, each packing shed, each workshop and in the field

Record those tested and require that all those tested wear a badge or sticker of some kind

identifying them as having been tested that day

Should someone record an elevated temperature refer to relevant health department advice and regulations

Many of those working in horticultural packing facilities are working in close proximity to coworkers

Packing shed layout, line design and space constraints all make it difficult to ensure all workers are more than 1.5 metres apart

Break the business into discrete zones for particular activities

Limit the number of people working across more than a single zone to limit cross contamination

Where practical reconfigure packing shed layout, line design and/or staffing levels in order to enable workers to be at least 1.5 metres apart

Risk assess and adjust production facility and equipment cleaning regime

Restricting people to defined lunchrooms and amenities where possible

This should help with identifying who has been in contact with who if/when a case was to occur

Stagger break times such that the numbers using meal facilities and ablution blocks at any one time are kept as small as possible

Remove excess chairs and tables from lunchrooms and space apart to encourage staff to stay 1.5 metres apart.

Many of those working in harvest roles in horticulture work in close proximity to their coworkers

Crop production systems and harvest aid design constraints can make it difficult to ensure all workers are more than 1.5 metres apart

Isolate different harvest crews from one another from the time they enter the site in the morning until they leave in the evening

Install hand washing and sanitising stations on each and every harvest aid if they are not already in place

Organise separate portable toilets for the respective harvest crews

Dial up cleaning regime for field based portable toilets

Dial up the cleaning and sanitation regime for harvest aids, knives and any other tools used by pickers.

Consider providing pickers with their own tools where possible i.e. own knives.

Consider reducing the size of harvest crews in order to enable more space between pickers

Consider altering harvest schedules in order to only have a single harvest crew in a given block at any one time

Stagger break times such that the numbers using meal facilities and ablution blocks at any one time are kept as small as possible

Horticultural enterprises and/or their labour providers are often involved in the provision of accommodation for seasonal staff

The risk of the virus being spread amongst workers in accommodation facilities is as great. if not greater than in the workplace

•Decentralise the accommodation of your seasonal workforce as much as possible. The smaller the groups living together the better

•Accommodate workplace crews together, minimising cross contamination between the different crews working on your site

•Limit those accessing staff accommodation to those living there, including those that are working for the company, but living in other accommodation.

•No parties. No events.

•Minimise the use of shared cooking, laundry and ablution facilities as much as possible

•If various groups do need to use shared Facilities create a roster for when the facilities must be used by the various groups to minimise the numbers of people using these facilities at any one time i.e. follow social distancing protocols

•Risk assess and adjust accommodation, cooking, laundry and ablution facility cleaning protocols

•Ensure staff living in accommodation facilitated by the business or a labour provide observe government sanctioned personal hygiene protocols

•Identify alternative accommodation facilities to be used by those experiencing symptoms to self-isolate

•Ensure workers practice social distancing in the community outside work hours

Ideally discourage car pooling. If car pooling is necessary limit it to those already sharing accommodation and/or those

working in the same crews on packing lines or in harvest crews.