We are pleased to announce that Hislop & Co Horticulture will be back up and open for business from week commencing Monday 4th May following our short temporary closure to help minimise the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus).
We are following and monitoring the official guidance from the UK Government and we are doing everything that is required to ensure that we are supporting the health and wellbeing of our clients and staff members, and as such we are going to be implementing the following procedures:
Based on the guidelines issued, our working practice during this pandemic will cover the following:
Symptoms
- No work shall be carried out by any member of staff who has coronavirus symptoms, however mild.
- Staff will be advised daily to come to work only if they are well and no one in their household is self-isolating.
Distancing
- Staff will keep 2 metres apart as much as possible.
- We shall not work for any household where residents are shielding or in isolation
- Staff will work to any client specific control measures, as long as it is reasonably practicable to do so.
Hygiene
- No work shall be carried out by any member of staff who has coronavirus symptoms, however mild.
- Staff will be advised daily to come to work only if they are well and no one in their household is self-isolating.
Contact
- Staff will avoid skin to skin contact and face to face contact.
- Where face to face contact is essential this should be kept to 15 minutes or less wherever possible.
- Staff will not enter any buildings belonging to the client.
- All work will be done externally.
- Where staff need to use a washroom, they will use facilities off site.
- Staff shall have no direct contact with client whilst they are at client premises.
- All work requests need to be given to the office team 24 hours prior to our scheduled visit.
- Staff shall wipe down any surfaces they touch during their visit, with the wipes supplied to them.
Cohorting
- We will group staff in the same teams wherever possible, rather than mixing team members.
- Staff will travel to site independently of each other.
- Where independent travel is not possible, staff will travel in a company vehicle, wearing gloves and face masks.
In addition to the above, all staff will be provided with:
- additional PPE comprising disposal gloves, disposal face masks, medical grade hand wipes and hand sanitiser.
- training and written instruction on how to hand wash and hand rub their hands in accordance with WHO guidelines.
- training on how to wipe down equipment and vehicles safely after use.
- additional training on how to store equipment whilst at client property during this pandemic.
- receptacles for storing hygiene wipes after use and for safe disposal when back at the yard.
We have consulted with our fantastic team and they are fully supporting our decision to return to work as long as the Government and Public Health England (PHE) allows us to do so safely.
We are expecting a higher call volume than usual and our office team is operating on a skeleton staffing structure at present, so if you struggle to reach the office on 01462 713333 please be patient and email info@hislophorticulture.co.uk. We will respond to your enquiry as quickly as we can.
We look forward to hearing from you soon, and would like to thank you once again for supporting our business.
James Hislop, Managing Director