Does your workplace have a working COVID Safety Plan?

Given the amount of time we’ve been dealing with Covid-19 and with all the information that is freely available from government and health websites, it surprises me the number of businesses who don’t yet have a Covid Safety Plan in place.

And it’s not just cafe’s, restaurants and retail outlets that need to have a Covid Safety Plan – any business that is permitted to open is required to have a Covid Safety Plan in place.

What is a workplace Covid Safety Plan?

A Covid Safety Plan is much more than a compliance document, rather, it’s a critical step in our fight against Covid.

The plan provides a level of assurance that a business is committed to getting back to work while protecting the community – so, not only does the plan provide for a safe workplace, it also inspires confidence with your customers, suppliers and anyone else who visits your workplace.

In essence, the plan sets out what businesses need to do in order to fulfill their obligations under public health orders AND to minimise the risk of Covid-19 transmission in the workplace.

So, if a Covid Safety Plan is so important, for both health and community confidence, why are there businesses who still don’t have a plan in place?

Certainly, it’s not due to a lack of information – rather, it’s perceived too difficult to develop and implement.

However, nothing could be further from the truth.

Setting up a Covid Safety Plan?

The plan itself consists of a written or electronic form that can be produced during a compliance check or audit.

Setting up a Covid Safety Plan is as simple as 2 steps.

Step 1

Complete a Covid-19 Safety Plan https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/covid-safe#covid19safetyplans

In this step, you are required to stipulate your business type and review the required actions under the following categories:

• Managing the wellbeing of staff, customers, and visitors
• Maintaining physical distancing
• Hygiene, sanitising, and cleaning routines
• Record keeping & compliance enforcement

Step 2

Register your business as a Covid Safe business https://www.nsw.gov.au/register-your-business-as-covid-safe#register-your-business-as-covid-safe

 Once registered, you will receive:

• Your unique QR code for check-in
• Access to an online form for checking in for visitors who can’t use the QR code
• Posters for your premises and social media badges

For more information, please check with your state/territory government website for any additional specifics you may need to include in your Covid Safety Plan.

Alternatively, Safety Services Australia can help you develop your plan specifically for your business. We have developed more than 30 COVID Safety Plans in multiple industry sectors and states and appeared on Sunrise as a COVID Safety Plan expert.

For a no obligation consultation, please contact us on (02) 96345912 or email us at info@safetyservices.net.au.