Abingdon Property Maintenance COVID Secure guidelines

The government has advised that tradespeople in England can carry out work inside people’s homes across all local restriction tiers (in place from Wednesday 2nd December 2020) and during the National Lockdown . There is also exemption from the gatherings limit in all tiers. This is as long as the tradesman, the homeowner / customer and both households are well and have no coronavirus symptoms. The tradesmen must also follow the COVID-Secure guidance.

We shouldn’t carry out work in a home if anyone in the household is self-isolating, unless the work is to sort a problem which is a direct risk to the household’s safety, like emergency plumbing or repairs.

No work should be carried out in a household which is isolating because one or more family members has symptoms or where an individual has been advised to shield – unless it is to remedy a direct risk to the safety of the household or to the public.

When working in a household where somebody is clinically vulnerable, but has not been asked to shield, for example, the home of someone over 70, prior arrangements should be made with vulnerable people to avoid any face-to-face contact, for example, when answering the door. You should be particularly strict about handwashing, coughing and sneezing hygiene, such as covering your nose and mouth and disposing of single-use tissues.

Prior to any visit:-

We will undertake a risk assessment. This includes taking reasonable steps to protect use and others from coronavirus. This is called a COVID-19 risk assessment and help’s us manage risk and protect people.

We will:

  • identify what work activity or situations might cause transmission of the virus
  • determine who could be at risk
  • decide how likely it is that someone could be exposed
  • act to remove the activity or situation, or if this isn’t possible, control the risk

We will notify our customers of the normal steps we take and ask if they would like us to take any further measures.

During our visit:-

We will:

  • Wash our hands regularly, particularly before we enter a property and after we leave. We will use our own facilities to wash our hands and we regularly use hand sanitiser.
  • Wherever possible we also wear disposable, protective gloves; often changing these throughout a job depending on the nature of the work.
  • We will avoid close contact by maintaining at least 2 metres distance (around 3 steps) from customers during the entire visit.
  • We undertake to avoid touching any surfaces or objects other than those necessary to do the work. Where we do touch surfaces, we will wipe them down using sanitising wipes.
  • Every effort should be made to increase ventilation in the area where the work is being done, for example by opening any windows.

After our visit:

We will:

  • Safely dispose of all waste materials and used PPE. This is separately bagged for disposal of after every visit or job
  • Wash our hands and follow up with hand sanitiser.
  • Take any additional steps, depending on the risk assessment including such things as additional cleaning of tools, toolboxes or other specialist equipment.