Covid-19
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Ensure That My Customer Relationships Outlast Coronavirus

We do comply with any government-imposed limits, and rules.

How to prepare for a job

Keep in contact with the homeowner, so they’re confident that you’re working to keep them safe. You should:

• Let them know what actions you’re taking to protect them, as well as yourself.

• Inform them if you have hay fever, allergies, or respiratory conditions that could potentially make you sneeze, so they’re not worried when you do.

• You should agree with them how you’ll go about your work safely before you turn up, particularly how you will maintain the 2-meter distancing rule. When you’re working in a household where somebody is clinically vulnerable but hasn’t been asked to shield, for example, the home of someone over 70, you should make arrangements with them to avoid any face-to-face contact, for example, when answering the door.

• Ask them if they want you to take any extra precautions beyond what you’ve discussed, especially if they’re classed as more vulnerable.

• You could also ask the homeowner to clear the room that you’re working in of any furniture if they’re able to. For example, if you’re a painter/decorator, ask them to take down any photos from the walls.

 

Whilst it’s important to keep in touch with your customers, you should still avoid close contact as much as possible. Some tradespeople have told us that they’re asking for photos or a video of the problem that needs fixing, so they can provide more quotes over the phone. Our Chat feature is great for this, too

How to keep safe whilst you’re on a job

Regularly wash your hands with soap and water, for at least 20 seconds – liquid soap is better than bar soap.

Use hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol if soap and water aren’t available.

Always wash your hands as soon as you get home from work.

If you happen to have protective gear, like safety goggles or a dust mask, you might want to use them, too.
• Maintain the 2-meter distance from any household occupants at all times. You can read the government’s tips for maintaining social distancing on Gov. UK.
• Clean regularly touched objects and surfaces using your regular cleaning products to reduce the risk of passing the infection on to other people.
• Don’t touch your eyes, nose, or mouth if your hands aren’t clean.
• Also, if the weather allows, keep your windows open for fresh air and to keep clean air moving through the room.
• To minimize the number of people making deliveries to the homeowner’s property, bulk order products from the same supplier, where you can.
Where social distancing guidelines can’t be followed, you should think about whether that activity needs to continue and take further actions to help reduce the risk if it does. For example, washing hands even more frequently, using back-to-back or side-to-side working instead of face-to-face where possible, and using screens and barriers to separate people from each other.

How to maintain social distancing in someone’s home

• If it isn’t possible to maintain social distancing while working in the home, pay extra attention to equipment, cleaning, and hygiene to reduce risk.
• Working materials, such as tools or domestic appliances, should be assigned to an individual and not shared if possible. If they need to be shared, they should be shared by the smallest possible number of people.
• Ask that households leave all internal doors open to minimize contact with door handles.
• Identify busy areas across the household where people travel to, from, or through, for example, stairs and corridors, and minimize movement within these areas.
• Bring your own food and drink to households and have breaks outside where possible.
• If more than one person is working in a home, limit the number of tradespeople working within a confined space and use a fixed pairing system if you have to work near each other, for example, during two-person assembly or maintenance. Employers should introduce fixed pairing and allocate the same tradespeople to a household for repetitive work.