25/03/2020
We have recently received advice from our industry body the CIPHE (see below) and we're following it, for the safety of our customers and staff. We hope all our customers are safe and well. Our engineers are staying at home unless they are required for an emergency situation, in which case they are attending, properly prepared. If you think you have an emergency call us.
CIPHE Guidance
Plumbing and Heating Industry Impact:
As with many tradespeople, members of the plumbing and heating industry serve their communities in domestic environments. There are a number of serious implications and considerations to be made in delivering this service at the time of a pandemic:
Personal safety and wellbeing
Safety and wellbeing of your customer
Insurance cover and public liability
Legal positions
Help for my business
Personal safety and wellbeing
First of all, it is important to emphasise that you are perfectly entitled to choose to not work in a particular environment because you feel that it is unsafe. If you run your own business, then you can decline work on this basis and if you are an employee you can raise your concerns with your employer who must be prepared to listen and risk assess the environment you are entering.
Where you are happy to continue, assume that the premises you are working in and the system you are working on contain the virus, and prepare yourself appropriately.
Extend your use of Personal Protective Equipment wherever reasonably possible. There are certain items such as safety glasses, gloves and face masks, which are frequently a part of a plumber or heating engineer’s armour. Let your customers know that you will be extending your use of these to include your arrival on-site. If at all possible, use disposable items so you can wear a new set on the next job. Let your clients know of any additional costs because of precautionary measures taken at this time, making it clear that you are taking these steps for your own safety and that of your clients.
Clean your tools properly at the start and finish of any job, especially before you return them to a tool bag or vehicle that you may be using to transport them in.
Change your clothes immediately when returning home and ensure they are laundered.
Safety and wellbeing of your customer
Many members of the plumbing and heating industry are sole traders or micro-SME’s. This often means that any length of time away from work hits particularly hard and the temptation to work when feeling a little bit under the weather is very real.
However, it is important to be aware that symptoms which might be described as being under the weather are often reported by those later diagnosed with having contracted the coronavirus. While your symptoms may be mild, the virus could be deadly to more vulnerable clients.
This means that working while feeling unwell could pose a risk to the health of your customers, and is therefore something you must avoid.
Insurance cover and public liability
With regards to your Public Liability insurance, it is reassuring to know that nothing related to the coronavirus pandemic will adversely affect the coverage provided. For that reason, you should continue to perform your role as professionally and diligently as you would at any other time.
