Boris Johnson announced plans to ease the lockdown restrictions and to encourage businesses to reopen, where they can do so safely. Guidance has been provided to help ensure that eight types of workplace are as safe as possible, and business owners now need to become familiar with this content.

The eight working environments are as follows:

Construction and other outdoor work

Factories, plants and warehouses

Labs and research facilities

Offices and contact centres

Other people’s homes

Restaurants offering takeaway or delivery

Shops and branches

Vehicles

If you have any queries around completing the required risk assessment, you can contact HSE COVID-19 helpline on 0300 790 6787, who are open Monday to Friday, 8.30am – 10pm. Alternatively, you might prefer to fill in the online enquiry form.

• The results of your risk assessment must be shared with your employees, who you may wish to involve in its completion.
• Businesses with more than 50 employees are expected to publish the results of their risk assessment on their website.
• If you have less than 50 employees, you still have to display a notice in your workplace to show that you have followed the guidance.

The form is here.

There are obviously working environments that are not in the list above, and we would assume these will be added as the lockdown restrictions are eased.