COVID-19 Safety Plan & Social Distancing Policies
Registered as a COVIDsafe Business by the New South Wales Government, Be Challenged offers a number of Programs to connect your teams during these challenging times.
As part of Be Challenged’s COVIDsafe Program Offering and Framework, we have defined our Social Distancing Policies and our COVID-19 Safety Plan for your reference.
Click the links below to navigate to each of the key items.
Be Challenged’s Social Distancing Policies
1. Scope and purpose
2. Contravening this policy
3. Guiding principles as at 20 May 2020
4. Hygiene, COVID-19 symptoms and contact with a COVID-19 case
5. Interaction between people
6. Physical layout of the workplace
7. External providers
8. Travel
9. Consultation and communication
Be Challenged’s Social Distancing Policies
1. Scope and purpose
This policy applies to anyone performing work for Be Challenged.
The purpose of this policy is to reduce the likelihood of transmission of COVID-19, including between workers, and between workers and third parties including clients and contracted personnel (such as delivery, maintenance and repair services personnel).
2. Contravening this policy
A failure to comply with health and safety requirements or this policy may result in disciplinary action being taken, up to and including termination of employment or engagement as relevant.
3. Guiding principles as at 20 May 2020
General work health and safety obligations
Be Challenged is committed to complying with its obligations under work health and safety legislation to provide a healthy and safe workplace for its workers and visitors to its workplace, protecting its workers from injury and illness and promoting their welfare.
Be Challenged will take reasonable steps to identify, control, protect against and, where it can, eliminate risks to the health and safety of its workers and visitors to Be Challenged’s workplace.
Workers are responsible for the health, welfare and safety of themselves and other workers and visitors to the workplace.
This is a summary of Be Challenged’s and its workers’ (including managers) work health safety obligations. For further detail, please refer to the work health safety policy in the Be Challenged Way document.
Current advice from the Department of Health
As at 20th May 2020, the Department of Health advises that, where possible:
- everyone must keep at least 1.5 metres apart from others; and
- there must be 4 square metres of space per person,
Social Distancing Requirements.
At all times, you must comply with the Social Distancing Requirements as far as reasonably practicable.
4. Hygiene, COVID-19 symptoms and contact with a COVID-19 case
Hygiene
At all times you must practice good hygiene, but this is particularly critical during the COVID-19 pandemic. Good hygiene means, for example, washing your hands with soap regularly, sneezing into a tissue and coughing into your sleeve. Be Challenged provides access to handwashing facilities and may also provide alcohol-based sanitiser.
COVID-19 symptoms
You must not work from the workplace or attend an in person gathering if you have any of the following COVID-19 symptoms:
- fever;
- coughing
- sore throat; and/or
- shortness of breath.
If you exhibit any of these symptoms, you may use your personal leave.
Contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case or potential COVID-19 case
You must notify Kingsley Seale (“Kingsley”) and Oliver Sheer (“Oliver”) if you have been in contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case or potential COVID-19 case.
- If you have been in contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case, you must self-quarantine for a period of 14 days and during that time you must not attend the workplace.
- If you have been in contact with a potential COVID-19 case, you must self-quarantine for a period of 14 days or until the COVID-19 case is cleared as negative. During this period, you must not attend the workplace.
5. Interaction between people
Interaction between workers
Working from home and working from the workplace
Option 1: You must continue to work from home, unless otherwise agreed to with Kingsley and / or Oliver. This agreement may permit you to work from the workplace on a regular basis or on a particular occasion.
Option 2: To avoid the spread of COVID-19, we may allocate you a day(s) of the week where you may work from the workplace (Allocated Workplace Day). You are under no obligation to work from the workplace on your Allocated Workplace Day(s). However, you must not work from the workplace on a day of the week other than your Allocated Workplace Day(s) unless otherwise agreed to with Kingsley and Oliver. This agreement may permit you to work from the workplace on a day of the week other than your Allocated Workplace Days(s) on a regular basis or on a particular occasion.
Option 3: You must work from the workplace, unless otherwise agreed to with Kingsley and Oliver
We encourage workers to speak with Kingsley and Oliver if they have any concerns about attendance for work. This may be the case if they have a personal illness or injury which puts them at risk if they work from the workplace.
In person gatherings with other workers
You must not organise, schedule or attend any in person gatherings with other workers.
Some essential in person gatherings may be authorised. However, you must seek approval from Kingsley or Oliver and they may assist with assessing whether it is essential to have an in-person gathering including whether the gathering can be conducted online or over the phone.
If an essential gathering is approved, you must:
- limit the number of participants. Only participants who are required to attend can attend;
- hold the gathering at a location that allows for participants to comply with the Social Distancing Requirements; and
- ensure the face-to-face time is limited or that the gathering does not go on longer than required.
Interaction between workers and clients
Unless it is essential to meet in person, all meetings with clients must be conducted online or over the phone.
You must only meet in person with clients if meeting with the client in person is essential. If you are unsure about whether the meeting is essential, you must seek advice and approval from Kingsley or Oliver.
If meeting with the client in person is essential (including if it has been approved), you must:
- limit the number of participants. Only participants who are required to be there can attend;
- hold the gathering a location that allows for participants to comply with the Social Distancing Requirements; and
- ensure the face-to-face time is limited or that the gathering does not go on longer than required.
You must ensure all clients practice good hygiene. This may include providing them with alcohol-based sanitiser or access to handwashing facilities.
6. Physical layout of the workplace
Additional signage and markings
To assist you with complying with Social Distancing Requirements, we have introduced social distancing and other COVID-19 related signage. You must read and comply with the signage and ensure clients comply with the signage.
Spread of workers at workstations
At all times, you must leave one desk space between you and each other worker.
Breaks and break-out rooms
At all times, there must not be in excess of:
- 1 person the kitchen;
- 4 people in the boardroom;
- 2 people in the breakout room
Entry points
We may stagger start and end times to avoid congestion at entry/exit points. You must comply with any such directions.
7. External providers
Deliveries
You must not place any orders for delivery at the workplace unless essential to perform your duties. You must not place any personal orders for delivery at the workplace.
Maintenance or repair services
You must not schedule maintenance or repair services at the workplace unless such services are essential. You must provide clear instructions to such personnel to comply with Be Challenged’s work health safety requirements including with respect to social distancing.
You must ensure all delivery, maintenance or repair services personnel practice good hygiene. This may include providing them with alcohol-based sanitiser or access to handwashing facilities.
8. Travel
To and from the workplace
Where reasonably practicable, particularly if you are reliant on public transport, the company may make arrangements with you to travel to and from the workplace outside of peak hours (generally outside of the hours between 8 am and 9:30 and between 5 pm and 6:30 pm).
Travel as part of the performance of your duties
You must only travel as part of the performance of your duties if such travel is essential or the purpose of such travel is essential.
If the travel is essential, you must:
- limit the number of workers travelling. Only workers who are required to travel can travel;
- comply with the Social Distancing Requirements including by limiting the number of workers in the same vehicle; and
- not use public transport.
Long distance travel
You must not travel or schedule to travel to destinations outside the metropolitan city where your workplace is located.
Some essential long-distance travel may be authorised. However, you must seek approval from Kingsley or Oliver. If approved, we may provide you with additional directions with respect to your work health safety obligations including social distancing during the travel.
9. Consultation and communication
Consultation
Consultation between Be Challenged and workers is an essential part of effectively managing health and safety in the workplace, as it enables its employees to contribute to the making of decisions affecting their health and safety at work. Workers’ involvement at all levels is imperative for ensuring their safety at the workplace.
Be Challenged will, so far as is reasonably practicable, consult with its workers who are, or are likely to be, directly affected by matters relating to work health safety, including social distancing.
Be Challenged will ensure:
- the sharing of relevant information about work health safety matters with its workers;
- that the workers be given the opportunity to contribute, express their views or raise any issues or concerns in relation to any work health safety; and
- that the workers’ views are valued and taken into account.
Communication
Given the changing nature of COVID-19 including guidelines from the Department of Health, this social distancing policy may be amended. We will make any changes to this policy available to you. It is your responsibility and you must ensure you have read and comply with the latest social distancing policy.
We also encourage all workers to get in touch with Kingsley or Oliver if you have any questions.
COVID-19 Safety Plan
As a business, we must manage the risks of COVID-19 entering or spreading in our workplace.
We may not be able to eliminate the risk completely instead, we will need to consider other ways to reduce the risk as far as reasonably practicable using engineering controls, administrative controls or, in instances of directly with infected persons, personal protective equipment.
We must use the most effective level of control, noting that we may need a combination of controls. We must also maintain and regularly review our control measures to ensure they remain effective.
This plan will help to identify exactly what action you will take to put in place the required controls.
1. Cleaning and Hygiene
All our offices are cleaned on a weekly basis by an external cleaning company. A copy of their safety plans are to be kept by the National Office Manager. All surfaces are wiped with disinfectant, floors cleaned and kitchens and bathrooms disinfected. Surfaces including door knobs, hand rails, keyboards and phones are also cleaned.
Hand sanitisers have been provided to all offices in entry ways and common areas, disposable hand towels have been provided in place of permanent hand towels and signage for safe practices hung in all office locations.
2. Restrictions on Entry to the Workplace
Employees must not enter a workplace if they are required to isolate or quarantine other than:
- to obtain medical treatment or testing in relation to COVID-19 , and the workplace is the appropriate place to receive such treatment or testing, or
- the worker is required or permitted, under a direction made in relation to COVID-19, to enter or be at the workplace, and does so in accordance with that direction, or
- there is an emergency and the worker is entering or at the workplace to protect: – the safety of the worker, or – the safety of another person, or – the worker’s property or the property of another person.
3. Physical Distancing at the Workplace
We have taken all reasonable steps to ensure as far as is reasonably practicable in the circumstances that:
- Each person at the workplace, or entering or leaving the workplace, maintains a distance of at least 1.5 metres from each other at the workplace, or when entering or leaving the workplace, and
- the total number of people present in a single space, at any one time, does not exceed the number calculated by dividing the total area of the space used, as measured in square metres, by 4.
- All employees, entering or leaving a workplace must ensure that s/he complies with the requirements of the physical distancing requirements of that workplace, if it is reasonable to do so.
4. Providing instruction, training and supervision in respect to COVID-19
All offices each worker at the workplace (including contractors and volunteers) with information, training and instruction on:
- the risks in relation to COVID-19, and
- the control measures implemented in the workplace to mitigate those risks, in relation to COVID-19.
Posters on how to wash hands and how to limit the spread of germs have been posted around all offices and signs requesting people limit touching items, surfaces are also provided. Masks have been provided for employees who wish to wear them.
Information has been displayed in public areas to ensure that workers and others entering the workplace understand what they must do to follow the requirements to keep our workplace safe.
5. Managing Risks to Health and Safety
All employees are to remain at home if feeling unwell and if signs of fever, cough or other COVID19 symptoms. An employee must then ensure they get tested for COVID19 and remain in isolation until the test results have been confirmed.
Review.
As the situation with COVID-19 can change rapidly, the National Office Manager will regularly review our control measures to make sure they still meet the minimum requirements and will manage the risks in the best possible way for our workplace.