For tradespeople, the requirement of working in a client’s home brings about safety precautions not just for yourself but also the clients you see. From electrical shock precautions to a sense of gas leaks within the property, there are many unexpected threats to encounter, but with the current climate, the bigger and more prominent area is health and safety for customers.
Risk Assessment
Covid-19 has single-handedly altered the way we interact with everyone and everything. Lockdowns provided inability for many people to be able to leave home to work or socialise, and with restrictions being eased tradespeople needed to adjust heavily to install guidelines for safe working around these areas.
The risk needs to be assessed before entering any clients home, and this needs to begin with yourself. If you have had any symptoms of Covid-19 and have not been recently tested you need to stay at home until a test shows you are negative. With any symptoms relating to a high temperature, relentless cough or lack of taste or smell, this is enough to get yourself tested before risking the health of others.
When it comes to customers you need to upfront get clarification on whether anyone has been diagnosed or had contact with anyone who has tested positive or shown symptoms within the last few weeks. If it is affirmative that they have, you need to reschedule for a few weeks when hopefully the symptoms and test for them prove negative.
Social Distance
You will need to ensure enough distance is kept from the customer at all times.
It is recommended that you work in a room without anyone else present to fully reduce risk, however, it’s not always possible in a clients home so employ a distance of two metres at all times. Masks and gloves must be present as standard and must not be removed when working in the clients home.
Ideally, it would be great to work on bigger jobs during the week which takes up a larger amount of time in one workplace than several different ones. This would reduce the number of people you come into contact with as well as the risk of spreading.
Hygiene Measures
Bacteria and germs can be spread as easily by hand as much as the air.
This is why hand sanitizer being carried by yourself to be used on every job is a must. Be sure to use it before entering a property and regularly wash your hands to reduce the risk of carrying germs.
It’s not an unreasonable request to ask clients to leave internal doors ajar to reduce the risk of touching door handles which are a petri dish for household germs. By minimising the contact with them you will not run the risk of transmission of them.
In today’s world, the requirement to train to become an electrician also factors in extra safety protocols for handling the current crisis but they are common sense guides and easy to implement. Whether you pursue electrical training courses or gas courses, health and safety for customers is always at the heart of what you pursue.