Opening your Business safely during the Covid-19 Crisis

As the Covid-19 crisis took a grip of the country, many businesses suspended some or all of their insurance cover. Now that restrictions are being lifted and the economy starts to reopen, it is essential that you tell your broker or insurer that you have re-commenced trading and ensure your full policy cover is in force. 

A key element of any insurance programme is the emphasis on health and safety. Therefore, it is imperative that as your business re-opens, employers and business owners have key responsibilities to both their staff and advise customers visiting their premises. These responsibilities may include:

• Developing and documenting a Covid-19 response plan. This should be overseen by an appointed person to ensure that you comply with the Return to Work Safety Protocol.
• Consider Covid-19 risks for your business and when doing so consider that risk and how it applies to staff, customers, and visitors. You should prepare a risk assessment and update your safety statement to factor in
  these new procedures and controls that you have put in place.
• Implement risk control and safety measures. Enforce social distancing, supply hand sanitisers and wipes, ensure staff have the relevant personal protection equipment (PPE). It is also imperative that used PPE and other equipment is disposed of safely in appropriate containers.
• Put up appropriate signage highlighting social distancing and the need to use the sanitiser and wash hands regularly. Staff need to be very mindful of this and encouraged to wash their hands every 30 minutes, at
  least.
• All areas in your premises should be regularly cleaned in line with Covid-19 risk control procedures, including stock and materials as appropriate. These could have been handled by someone who contracted the virus.
• Be aware that your staff may contract the virus at any timeso ensure that you can quickly identify and isolate any such cases. You should also have staff complete a pre-return to work form. This can be found at www.hsa.ie.
• Provide appropriate induction training for your staff with an emphasis on public health guidelines. This should include how employees respond if they develop symptoms, and the protocols in place to deal with Covid -19. Detail your response plan and risk assessments and controls. Employees should sign off that they have received and understand the training provided.
• With premises closed, Legionnaires Disease is a risk. Put in place measures to ensure water systems are safely flushed clean. PPE should be provided to staff carrying out this work.
• A regular cleaning plan should be carried out, particularly in common areas and touch-points e.g. toilets, washrooms, kitchens, door handles, handrails etc.
• Business owners should have in place a documented record of all safety actions as evidence of workplace compliance with health and safety advice and protocols.

Your employers and public liability policies will protect you if a claim for injury to employees or members of the public is brought against you but it is the policyholders responsibility to act “as though they are uninsured” and minimise risk at all times, hence our highlighting the above measures. All insurers are amending their policies and inserting Covid-19 exclusions which will be effective from your renewal date, in fact some of you reading this may have renewed your policy with such exclusions already in place.

We recommend that you discuss the impact of these changes with your broker or insurer and ensure you fully understand how they will affect your insurance cover.

John Bourke ACII
Dolmen Insurance Brokers Ltd
01-8022381 / 086 8146 236
[email protected]
www.dolmen

This Business Support article featured in the July/August 2020 edition of The Hardware Journal