

As an employer what are you required to do to maintain a safe and healthy workplace?
In addition to the Regulations, the DEL has issued directives (the “Directives”) which set out further obligations on employers to maintain a safe and healthy workplace as far as reasonably practicable.
The Directives require all employers to:
Every employer must arrange the workplace to ensure minimal contact between workers and, as far as practicable, ensure that there is a minimum of one and a half metres between workers while they are working, for example, at their workstations. Depending on the circumstances of the workplace or the nature of the sector, the minimum distance may need to be longer. Reducing the number of workers present in the workplace at any time may assist in achieving the required social distancing.
If it is not practicable to arrange work stations to be spaced at least one and a half metres apart, the employer must arrange physical barriers to be placed between work stations or erected on work stations to form a solid physical barrier between workers while they are working; or if necessary, supply the employee free of charge with appropriate PPE based on a risk assessment of the working place.
Every employer must ensure that social distancing measures are implemented through supervision both in the workplace and in the common areas outside the immediate workplace through queue control or within the workplace such as canteens and lavatories. These measures may include dividing the workforce into groups or staggering break-times to avoid the concentration of workers in common areas.