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Coronavirus Support: Working Safely, Testing and Employee Wellbeing

The latest guidance on working safely, lockdown and current restrictions.

Coronavirus Support: Working Safely, Testing and Employee Wellbeing

Below is a range of information about Coronavirus testing, working safely and the Coronavirus vaccine.

The Health and Safety Executive has the latest information and advice about Coronavirus and health and safety

Testing

Free testing for coronavirus (COVID-19) from the NHS has ended for most people in England, with free testing services closed at pharmacies, test sites, community collection points such as libraries, schools, nurseries and universities.

Most people in England are no longer advised to get tested. Find out:

If you still want to get tested and you're not eligible for a free NHS test, you must pay for a COVID-19 test yourself.

You can buy a COVID-19 test from some pharmacies and retailers, in person or online.

Going to work 

If a member of staff is unwell with symptoms of a respiratory infection, such as COVID-19, they should follow the guidance for people with symptoms of a respiratory infection such as COVID-19.

Employers, in accordance with their legal obligations, may wish to consider how best to support and enable their workforce to follow this guidance as far as possible.

Actions to reduce the spread of respiratory infections, including COVID-19:

  • Encourage and enable vaccination
  • Let fresh air in
  • Maintain a clean workplace
  • There is no requirement to report workplace outbreaks of respiratory infections to your local public health team. However, if you experience high levels of people with respiratory symptoms in your workplace the actions detailed above here will help to reduce the spread, so they should be promoted and applied more rigorously.

Some workers are at a greater risk of serious illness from COVID-19, for example people who have a weakened immune system.

There is specific guidance for people whose immune system means that they are at higher risk, because they have a reduced ability to fight infections, such as COVID-19. Employers may wish to consider the needs of employees at greater risk from COVID-19, including those whose immune system means they are at higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19.

The requirement for every employer to explicitly consider COVID-19 in their health and safety risk assessment has been removed. Employers may choose to continue to cover COVID-19 in their risk assessments. Employers that specifically work with COVID-19, such as laboratories, must continue to undertake a risk assessment that considers COVID-19.

Employee Health and Wellbeing  

As an employer you have responsibilities for your employee’s health and wellbeing, during this time the nature of these responsibilities may be different.

Some useful resources to assist you with managing your own and employee health and wellbeing are shown below.

Business in the Community have created a range of toolkits for employers to support employee health and wellbeing through the coronavirus.