COVID - 19 Staff Update 3 - Introduction of further guidelines

Dear all,

Following a meeting of the Jenner advisory panel this morning we continue to closely monitor the situation and adapt to ever-changing guidelines.

The following guidance notes were discussed and adopted at this mornings meeting and reflect latest government policy and further enhancement in the promotion of health and wellbeing of all staff.

1. Individual Working Environment

All staff are permitted to work from home should you wish to do so for any of the following reasons:

1. Self-isolation due to any of the identified symptoms such as a new and persistent cough, high temperature or new guidelines which suggest a loss of the senses of taste and smell, which maybe an early indicator of infection;

2. Imposed isolation due to the health and wellbeing of yourself, a family member or anyone else within your household who may need additional protection due to underlying health issues;

3. Genuine concern about working within the office environment. Any individual has the right to work from home should they feel more comfortable doing so. In which case this will need to be discussed with your line manager before actioning this preference.

In the event that you do decide to work from home please advise Emily Barnes for your reasons for undertaking this decision, which is vital to ensure our HR records are maintained in the event that the government require retrospective access.

1. Departmental / Site Working Environment

Anyone working within open-plan offices or multiple occupation site accommodation should ensure that social distances of 2m are observed at all times or consider working on a rota system to reduce proximity to others and therefore exposure to infection. This should be agreed as a team to suit individual needs and should be authorised by your line manager, before being put in place.

Alternatively, site staff should consider utilising all available space (such as meeting rooms etc) to reduce close proximity working and therefore the spread of infection.

1. Hygiene

In addition to previous guidelines regarding avoidance of all un-necessary meetings and networking events, which remains in place, please continue to maintain heightened cleanliness and hygiene standards, as per general government and NHS guidelines.

Alongside this we are also asking all staff to consider the following good sense guidelines:

• Limit social interaction as far as possible and maintain a minimum distance of 2m during all conversations

• Use the telephone rather visiting offices, where possible

• Only use your own phone and workstation

• Only use clean mugs or ensure you retain the same mug for the whole day

• Observe social-distancing so only 1 person in a kitchen at a time

There will be increased cleaning of the office premises throughout the day, including the wiping of handrails, door handles, work surfaces and regular cleaning of the signing-in system.

1. Communications

We will also be reintroducing the paper signing-in book to allow greater understanding of everyone’s whereabouts. This will be updated solely by Katie on reception but can be accessed by all. Please advise Katie where you are going and when you will return as you log-out.

Please continue to be patient with remote working capacity, most notably the connectivity of mobiles as the networks appear to be struggling to cope with increased volume of calls. It is suggested that if you experience difficulty in connecting that you switch your phone off for 30 seconds before turning back on and retrying.

Steve is providing laptops to allow remote working. Please do advise him if you need access to one.

Thank you once again for your ongoing patience, understanding and co-operation and please do continue to act diligently and responsibly to protect yourselves and others.

Kind regards,

Martin Sandall Managing Director