Inspection
•Educate workers on good health and hygiene practices
Do your workers know not to come to work when they are unwell, even if they feel fit to work?
Look for signs of ‘presenteeism’? Are managers and supervisors modelling the correct behaviours or is there a culture of ‘soldiering on’ that needs to be discussed as a team?
Have you informed workers about the importance of hand washing?
Have you trained workers on how to wash their hands (with soap and water for at least 20 seconds) and dry them correctly?
Have you trained workers on how to correctly use alcohol-based hand sanitiser?
Inform workers and others when they need to wash their hands. This includes:
before and after eating
after coughing or sneezing
after going to the toilet
after changing tasks
after touching potentially contaminated surfaces
Inform workers of the following good hygiene measures to limit the spread of the virus:
cover coughs and sneezes with an elbow or a tissue
avoid touching the face, eyes, nose and mouth
dispose of tissues hygienically
wash hands before and after smoking a cigarette
clean and disinfect surfaces and shared equipment
wash body, hair (including facial hair) and clothes thoroughly every day
stay more than 1.5 metres away from others
don’t shake hands and avoid any other close physical contact where possible
no spitting
put cigarette butts in the bin
Can you set up automatic alerts on computer systems to remind workers about washing hands and good hygiene measures?
•Put measures in place where reasonably practicable to minimise contact between people
Can you put in a system to provide for cashless transactions?
Require workers to minimise contact with others where possible
Are there an adequate number of hand washing and hand sanitising stations to sustain the increase in workers’ practicing good hygiene? Consider:
the number of workers on site
any shift arrangements
entry and exit points
high traffic areas
the need for workers to wash their hands before, during or after the completion of a work task
the location of the workplace or work tasks. Will workers be located outside away from common facilities such as bathrooms?
Are the hand washing and hand sanitising stations placed in convenient location to ensure workers and others can access them easily and frequently?
Have you talked to your contract cleaner or responsible worker to discuss if someone can check soap dispensers and monitor rubbish bins more frequently?
•How to set up hand washing facilities
Check the facilities are in good working order
Ensure facilities are adequately stocked with clean running water, soap or handwash and paper towels
Is water collecting anywhere it shouldn’t?
Is any paper towel dispenser working properly?
Are automatic soap dispensers an option?
Can you provide touch free bins?
Put posters up to inform workers and others how to wash their hands correctly and when to wash their hands.
•How to set up hand sanitising stations
Does the alcohol-based hand sanitiser have at least 60% ethanol or 70% isopropanol as the active ingredient as per the manufacturer’s instructions?
Set up stations at
entry and exit points to the workplace
entry and entry points to common areas
in areas that have high touchpoints or high traffic flows
For example:
Around the photocopier, near lifts
Put up posters at each station to inform workers and others how to sanitise their hands correctly and when
If children may enter the workplace, is hand sanitiser in a position to prevent accidental ingestion?
•Put measures in place that encourage good hygiene in the workplace
Increase access to closed bins in your workplace.
Put up signs to request customers only touch objects they are going to buy.
Communicate to workers that they are to report any flu-like symptoms to you, to stay away from the workplace and to seek advice from a health care professional.
Implement or review existing hygiene standards for common areas to ensure they require workers to:
Clean up after themselves
Place rubbish in bins provided
Avoid putting personal items such as phones on meal surfaces
Have adequate detergent and disinfectant products
•Put processes in place to regularly monitor and review the implementation of hygiene measures to ensure they are being followed and remain effective.
Put processes in place to make sure someone checks all hand washing and hand sanitising stations are adequately stocked.
Put processes in place to enable workers to efficiently raise issues relating to worker hygiene and hand washing or hand sanitising stations.
Develop infection control policies in consultation with your workers. These policies should outline measures in place to prevent the spread of infectious diseases at the workplace