TWEP - Episode 9 - Physical Distancing in The Workplace

The Workplace Experience

Today we will be talking about physical distancing requirements in the workplace.
We need to emphasis here that your requirements around social distancing in Australia are set and changed predominately by your State or Territory Government, plus Public Health COVID safe plans and the guidance provided by the National COVID-19 Coordination Commission (NCCC) and Safe Work Australia.
Physical distancing is the same as social distancing.
We are encouraging our clients to design and communicate their social distancing requirements to meet peak pandemic regulations. This is ensure that experiences of having mass employees working from home for extended periods or parts of your workplace deemed un-usable during these peak risk periods are now eliminated.
We will discuss – limits in enclosed spaces (1 person each 4m2) – workstations clusters, meeting rooms, collaborative spaces and break out spaces. –the 1.5 metres separation between people in the workplace and to a lesser extent gathering sizes, though important for organisational town halls or periodical team updates.
Remember there is a duty under Health and Safety Laws to manage physical distancing. Each organisation should implement as risk management plan.
It should be reviewed regularly to identify new or changing risks that may result in changes to employee safety.
Your risk assessment – needs to identify the risk, assess the risk and determine control measures to control the risk.
Consultation with key stakeholders is essential in the development and maintaining these risk assessments.
Remember floor markings and other signage to create new personal habits, these will occur over time.
Where possible contactless deliveries are encouraged and limiting people and their exposure to these third parties are key.
Face masks can be considered to be optional or compulsory depending on the setting in the workplace and where we are at in the pandemic risk cycle - high > medium > low.
Consideration also needs to be given to the flow of people in your primary and secondary circulation spaces. Any changes to the workplace must also ensure compliance with safe distance of travel under the fire provisions of the National Building Code.
Your physical distancing policies must also consider limitations on lift capacity and the impact on getting people to their prescribed floor. This may also need to be achieved by staggering employees start times or the opening of fire escapes for pedestrian travel between floors, while not breaching National Fire Regulations.
Your risk assessment also needs to include a review of physical distancing and other practices in end of trip facilities. These shared, high traffic areas need to have strict control measures to ensure the safety of all occupants. These need to be discussed and agreed between the stakeholders.
Where a workplace uses an agile or ABW model consider if the control measure does not provide adequate comfort to an employee that they can opt out and return to having a permanent desk. It is up to the organisation to set and where possible to agree with the stakeholders on the parameters on this.
You also need to consider physical distancing and control measures for work trips in corporate vehicles where more than one person is in a motor vehicle at a time.
So there is plenty to discuss in this episode.