covid-19

To Test or Not to Test? That is the question.

Katy Welch Testing for COVID-19
To Test or Not to Test? That is the question.
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Why should you test your workforce?

Well…. the obvious is this…. workplace testing will identify more positive cases of COVID-19 and ensure those infected isolates thereby reducing the spread of the virus and protect those who cannot work from home. This is the GOV.UK advice. The UK Government would like as many employers as possible to sign up to regularly testing their employees and will under certain circumstances provide free tests to employers. So… why wouldn’t you?

Well… good advice from the CBI is that before engaging in testing, businesses need to think carefully about their operations and staff, learning lessons from their response to the pandemic so far to determine what will work best. These questions may help as a starter:

  1. What type of workplace settings will testing be most useful for?
  2. Which test will best suit the organisation’s need?
  3. What will testing enable the organisation to do?
  4. What are my legal obligations as an employer?
  5. What will the health and safety requirements be?
  6. How can I incentivise my workforce to take up testing?
  7. What are the logistical and practical requirements around the delivery of workplace testing? Do I require additional trained staff to manage the programme?
  8. How regularly does testing need to be undertaken? How long should I implement testing for?

Source: CBI

The UK Government recognises that every employer and every sector is unique, providing 3 options for businesses:

Option 1: An employer-led DIY setup.

Employers can set up their own on-site testing programmes, outside of that which currently exists with the NHS Test and Trace service.

For more information: On Site Testing Program

Option 2: Use a third-party provider.

Employers who would like on-site testing but would prefer an accredited private provider to organise and run the testing on their behalf can partner with one of the providers on the list of providers: Third Party Providers

Employers will need to pay for this service provision but are still eligible to order the free government testing kits by registering to order workplace coronavirus tests. The onus falls upon the employer to ensure that they order the test kits.

In partnering with a third-party provider, responsibility still lies upon the employer to ensure that they register to order a sufficient number of test kits.

Option 3: Community Testing

For organisations in the public and private sector that have fewer than 50 employees, access to testing is through local authorities who are establishing testing sites for those without symptoms within their local areas.

If you are an organisation with fewer than 50 employees, a sole trader, self-employed or a member of the general public, visit your local authority’s website to find out more about their testing services.

Source: Gov.uk

So the message is clear…. The UK Government want as many employers as possible to sign up to regularly test their employees. But…… it does remain a voluntary decision for employers to run testing programmes for their staff.

Screening Employee’s… What’s your best option?

Katy Welch Return to work , , ,
Back to work

With many workplaces beginning to re-open or have gradual phased return to work the question is which technology, if any, do you use to assess infection in returning staff?

Many companies have opted to use temperature and moreover an abnormal rise in ‘core’ temperature to highlight possible cases of COVID-19.

If you are going to use temperature as a guide then you should be aware of the shortcomings so we’ve used peer reviewed evidence to give you the information you need.

So… what is normal ‘core’ temperature? The reality is, there isn’t one exact “normal” body temperature, so be prepared for a range of “normal”. However, the NHS consider a fever is usually when your body temperature is 37.8 C or higher.

Measurement of core temperature, if you want to be super accurate is best done using pulmonary artery catheterization as it is the reference standard to measure core body temperature, however we would not suggest you use this in the workplace…. “don’t do this at home folks”. Then of course there is the use of rectal and oral thermometers, which moderately correlates to core temperature but is also a tad invasive.

The tympanic (in your ear) infra-red thermometer frequently used in patient care has been shown to correlate with core body temperature and could be self administered to adhere to distancing guidance.

Handheld cutaneous (skin) infra-red thermometer is popularly used to screen large numbers of individuals due to it’s portability and that it does not require contact or cause discomfort to the individual being assessed, however there is little data to support its use.

Among common cutaneous infra-red thermometers evaluated for their ability to measure temperature traceable to the International Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS-90), the majority performed outside the accuracy range stated by the manufacturers and the medical standard. (Fletcher et al 2018).

The handheld cutaneous infra-red thermometer was less accurate than the tympanic thermometer and other infra-red thermal systems for temperature measurements and fever detection. (Bijur et al, 2016, Lui et al, 2004, Hausfater et al, 2008 and Tay et al 2015).

The study by Tay et al 2015, showed that the handheld infra-red thermometer had a low sensitivity of 29.4% when compared with the oral thermometer to detect fever.

The performance of the hand held cutaneous infra-red thermometer is operator-dependent, as the thermometer is aimed at the temple or forehead, and distance between the thermometer and skin may affect its accuracy. It is not unlikely that sub-optimally trained operators, shying away from close contact with those being screened, hold the thermometer further away than the required proximity and thus compromise its effectiveness.

In a pandemic, a false negative is a false reassurance and a potential future infection cluster (Aw, 2020)

Information taken from The Journal of Hospital Infection.

AW, J. 2020. The non-contact handheld cutaneous infra-red thermometer for fever screening during the COVID-19 global emergency. The Journal of hospital infection, 104, 451-451.

HSE: Regulating occupational health and safety during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

Katy Welch HSE , , , , , , , ,
HSE: Regulating occupational health and safety during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

As Britain’s statutory regulator of occupational health and safety The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has taken action to ensure that our important role continues effectively as the COVID-19 situation unfolds. These actions are being guided by the specific needs and characteristics of the various sectors we regulate and in line with advice from the UK Government, Public Health England, Public Health Wales and Health Protection Scotland.

HSE recognises the threat presented by COVID-19 to industry, our staff, and the broader community and in recognition of this we have transitioned our workforce to operate remotely.

HSE’s staff and inspectors remain contactable and we continue to engage with duty holders and other stakeholders with teleconferencing and other tools in place of face-to-face meetings.

Despite the demanding circumstances, compliance with occupational health and safety legal requirements remains with duty holders and HSE will continue its regulatory oversight of how duty holders are meeting their responsibilities in the context of the current public health risk and based on our available regulatory capacity.

Our regulatory approach will take a flexible and proportionate account of the risks and challenges arising from the pandemic.

As a consequence, HSE:

  • has suspended targeted inspection activity of high-risk industries that are not part of the major hazard sectors, including construction and manufacturing
  • has carried out a short pause on our offshore oil and gas and onshore chemical, explosives and microbiological industry inspection activities so we can give duty holders time to overcome various immediate pressures and challenges and we will then focus our regulatory work so it is re-prioritised onto critical areas and activities. We will continue to regulate major hazard industries throughout this time undertaking regulatory functions remotely
  • will endeavour to undertake regulatory activities which do not require site visits as normally as possible, for example Approvals and Authorisation work for biocides and pesticides, Statutory Permissioning activities such as Licensing, Safety Case / Report Assessments, Thorough Reviews, Combined Operations Notifications, Wells Notifications, Land Use Planning Applications, Hazardous Substances Consents etc
  • will, across all sectors, continue to investigate work related deaths, the most serious major injuries and dangerous occurrences and reported concerns from the workforce or the public where people are being exposed to risks from work activities and we will still take action to secure compliance with the law. We will conduct as much of our investigation activity using technology as possible, without compromising the collection of evidence and our ability to secure effective control of risk and, where appropriate, justice
  • will do as much of our regulatory intervention work as we can remotely, but we will still mobilise to site, including offshore, where it’s necessary to provide public assurance that hazards are being effectively managed and to secure compliance with the law. Where a site visit is required social distancing guidelines will be followed.

Source: HSE