COVID-19 (CORONAVIRUS)  – COMMUNICATION FOR WORKERS  

Staying safe in the workplace

All of our clients will be required to provide us with a detailed risk assessment detailing what measures are going to be taken to protect you. This information will be shared with you and you will be expected to follow all site health & safety rules at all times.

Measures will vary depending on your job role but some examples include:

• Social distancing (where required)
• Staggered start & finish times
• Taking breaks on your own; in accordance with a rota
• Wearing protective gloves or masks
• Back-to-back or side-to-side working (rather than face-to-face)
• Working in a fixed team, with the same people
• Strict hand washing / hand sanitising procedures
• Temperature checks
• One-way systems
• Virtual meetings and training

It is essential that you adhere to the health & safety measures that have been put in place to protect you. If you have any concerns about where you are working, please contact your Acorn Representative.

Further advice can be found on the Gov.uk website.

Symptoms

In order to avoid putting anyone at risk of contracting the virus, prior to any assignment, you will be asked a series of questions regarding symptoms of COVID-19. If you have any symptoms detailed below, you will not be able to start work. If you develop any of these symptoms while on an assignment, you cannot attend work and must contact your Acorn Representative as soon as possible.

The common symptoms are:

• A high temperature (this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
• A new, continuous cough (this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
• A loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you've noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal.

Self-Isolation

You must self-isolate in the following circumstances:

• You have any symptoms of COVID-19
• You've tested positive for COVID-19
• Someone you live with has symptoms of COVID-19 or has tested positive
• You've been told you've been in contact with someone who tested positive
• You have arrived in the UK from abroad from a 'red list' country, or from an 'amber list' country and not been fully vaccinated

* If you are identified as a contact, and at the time of your contact with the infected person, you have been fully vaccinated, you will not have to self-isolate. You are considered to be fully vaccinated if it is at least 14 full days since you had the second dose of an MHRA, EMA or FDA approved vaccine administered in the UK. Contact tracers will advise you to get a PCR test if you are a contact and have been double-jabbed.

In these circumstances, you may be eligible to receive statutory sick pay (SSP). You will be required to provide an Isolation Note which you can obtain from the NHS website. Please send this to your Acorn Representative who will advise if you are eligible.

Foreign Travel 

If you choose to travel on holiday to a foreign country, you must check whether you will be required to quarantine for a period of 10 days. A full list of countries and travel rules are available on the Gov.uk website.  You must inform your Acorn Representative of where you are travelling and the dates of travel. This can be done via an Acorn Holiday Request Form.  If you are required to quarantine, you will be unable to attend work for 10 days. This time off will be unpaid, unless you have sufficient holidays accrued to be paid for some or all of the time off.

Personal Details

For test & trace purposes, it is essential that your personal details such as; address, contact number, email address and emergency contacts are up-to-date. Please inform your Acorn Representative of any changes ASAP. You can also check with your Acorn Representative that the details currently held on file for you are correct.

Further information

We advise you to stay updated with the government guidance – this is a fast-moving area and the guidance is being updated daily https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus