Safer Assured, environmental health experts in the fields of infection control and legal compliance, have announced the launch of COVID-SAFE UK, a new quality mark for organisations with proven on-site controls to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
As the Government takes steps to end the lockdown, employers are struggling to make sense of the abundance of, and sometimes conflicting, guidance. And employees, suppliers and the public are looking for reassurance that the locations they are working in and visiting are operating to the safest possible standards.
Safer Assured’s scheme has been established to give assistance and assurance, providing members with:
•Best practice standards based on the latest research and government requirements.
•Downloadable resources and phone advice from highly qualified health and safety practitioners.
•Examination of procedures and inspections via video link to verify controls are in place.
•A report and determination of approval, conditional approval (based on satisfactory completion of an action plan) or refusal.
•A certificate, window sticker, COVID-SAFE UK Register entry and digital Quality Mark for successful organisations to use for a year.
With workplaces needing to move fast in preparation for returning staff, the Standard does not require lengthy documented procedures and can be applied to most industry sectors.
Early adopters of the Scheme are the CBA (Craft Bakers Association) who now include this as a free benefit to their trade association members (1500+ bakeries). CBA members can download resources which include customisable COVID-19 risk assessments to help them put in place best practice.
Melissa Thompson, a Chartered Environmental Health Practitioner and Managing Director of Safer Assured, commented: “We developed the COVID-SAFE UK Standard as we believe that organisations are desperate to do the right thing but putting in place a simple system to adequately protect others can be a daunting task.
“Having a best practice standard to work towards and a quality mark to promote can repay that investment whilst creating a safe environment that supports staff, customers and the public as we return together to normality.”
