It now includes references to the NHS track-and-trace system and some expanded comments about fly-tipping.
The document can be seen here.
Chris Jones, chair of the WISH Forum and director of risk management at Cory Riverside Energy, said: “Info 13 will be kept under review and will be further revised as new information emerges that requires it to be updated.
“Such revisions, however, are unlikely to be as frequent as has been the case over the last two months.”
Also now included in the document are links to the websites of devolved administrations and some resources including a checklist to help employers and other duty holders to carry out risk assessments.
Track-and-trace
The WISH Forum says that to limit the spread of the coronavirus it is important that individuals self-isolate if they, or their family, have symptoms, they have been instructed to do so via the NHS track-and-trace system or if they are extremely vulnerable.
The primary symptoms of the coronavirus are reported as fever, a dry cough and in some cases a loss of smell or taste.
While initial indications are that staff absences in the waste management sector have been lower than may have been originally estimated, clusters of absence as the result of the virus could still have a significant effect on the delivery of essential activities, the WISH Forum suggests.
The WISH Forum says if one employee is confirmed as or is suspected of having Covid-19 there is no need to send the whole of the rest of the workforce home unless they are instructed otherwise via the NHS track-and-trace system. Thorough cleaning of the area they work in is recommended, the WISH Forum says.
Fly-tipping
The WISH Forum says clearing fly-tipped wastes, or looking for enforcement evidence in such wastes, may result in potential exposure to a variety of hazards, depending on the nature of the wastes fly-tipped.
Precautions and procedures should already be in place to ensure that persons collecting, clearing, inspecting such materials are suitably protected from harmful substances, biological agents and other similar hazards, the WISH Forum says.
WISH says litter and the contents of litter bins, including gloves and masks discarded by the public, can be collected and bagged using normal precautions and procedures. If adequate precautions are already being taken, additional coronavirus controls should not be required, the WISH Forum suggests.
Risk assessments
WISH says employers must undertake their own assessments which take account of their situation and circumstances.
The purpose of such a risk assessment, the WISH Forum says, is to ensure that adequate controls are in place to reduce the risk of Covid-19 spread.
These controls may be at a business level or specific to a task or work area.
Being able to demonstrate a clear link from hazard through pathway to risk may provide the best approach to ensuring control adequacy, the WISH Forum says.
Alongside the publication of its guidance document the WISH Forum released example of how a Covid-19 checklist could be structured.
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