Slides of NCVO webinar that took place on 24 June 2020 covering: the general health and safety obligations to staff and volunteers, the key legal and practical issues employers need to consider and where to go for further support and guidance. Watch the webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDBvyTIFTIc

1. THE EASING OF LOCKDOWN: LEGAL
AND PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS
FOR RETURNING TO WORK
24 JUNE 2020

2. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS
• Josie Hinton, Capacity-building programmes manager, NCVO
• Sarah Valentine, Senior associate, Eversheds Sutherland LLP
• Andrew New, Head of education and training products, St John
Ambulance
• Adriano Mancinelli, Programme manager, Thomson Reuters
Foundation

3. LEGAL AND PRACTICAL
CONSIDERATIONS
EVERSHEDS SUTHERLAND

4. POLL 1
At what stage are you in terms of staff returning to the workplace?
1. Thinking about it
2. Holding off at present
3. Actively preparing for this
4. We are already back up and running

5. EMPLOYERS DUTIES – HEALTH AND SAFETY
• Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 -s2, s3 and s4
• Management of Health and Safety Regulations 1999 – Reg 3
• Health and Safety Executive
• Public Health England/NHS
• UK government
• Duty of employees – s7
LEGAL RESPONSIBILITIES TO PROTECT WORKERS AND
OTHERS FROM RISK

6. UK GOVERNMENT’S ‘OUR PLAN TO REBUILD’ ROADMAP
• Work from home where possible
• 11 May 2020 – Working Safely during coronavirus – Secure covid-19
guidance introduced (England)
• Covid-19 risk assessment
• Request to publish
• Staying covid-19 Secure in 2020 poster
• NHS Test and Trace Service
• HSE/ EHO – issue enforcement notices to secure compliance/spot
checks
THE HIGHLIGHTS

7. COVID-19 RISK ASSESSMENTS
• Stand-alone
• Align with UK government guidance
• Portfolio of sites – categorised, application
• Publish – internal, external, content
• Consultation
• Alert
• Coordinate?
• Check box/sign off
• Track
HOW TO APPROACH IT

8. POLL 2
Where are you at with carrying out a risk assessment for returning
to work?
1. We have started
2. We have not started
3. We have published our risk assessment
4. We have started/not started and are feeling unsure about our
approach

9. COVID-19 RISK ASSESSMENTS
• People
• Covid-19 risks
• Safety Management System and Systems of Work
• Premises
PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS

10. COVID-19 RISK ASSESSMENTS
• Communication
• Guidance, instruction and training
• Welfare
• Engagement
• Manage expectations
• Policy review and updates
• Reasonable adjustments
PEOPLE

11. COVID-19 RISK ASSESSMENTS
• Temperature screening
• Symptom awareness
• NHS Test and trace service
• Hand washing facilities
• Cleaning operations
• PPE
• Ventilation
COVID-19 RISKS

12. COVID-19 RISK ASSESSMENTS
• Revision to existing workplace risk assessments and policies
• PPE and equipment
• DSE
• Cohorting
• Lone working
• Social distancing
• Supply chain
• RIDDOR
SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, SYSTEMS OF WORK

13. COVID-19 RISK ASSESSMENTS
• Security
• Fire life safety
• Water risks
• Air conditioning
• Statutory inspections
• Site re-organisation
PREMISES

14. IMMEDIATE ISSUES TO CONSIDER WITH LOCKDOWN
EASING
• Tracking and mapping government guidance (face coverings – ‘a
condition of travel’)
• Strategy
• Reviewing covid-19 risk assessments
• Reasonable adjustments (Home working)
• Return to work – vulnerable groups?
• Engagement
• Survey

15. FUTURE ISSUES TO CONSIDER WITH LOCKDOWN EASING
• Workforce model
• Premises
• Business restoration planning – second wave?
• PPE
• SMS
• EL/PL claims?

16. IN PRACTICE: ST JOHN AMBULANCE
ANDREW NEW

17. ST JOHN: RESPONSE TO COVID-19 CRISIS

18. ST JOHN: RESPONSE TO COVID-19 CRISIS
• Used experience from senior management to set up a Gold crisis
management structure
• Listened to customers and users concerns quickly – not fighting
against the tide
• Took advantage of the government’s furlough scheme early on
• Made use of our industry engagement early on to work together with
government and regulators
• Ensured we continued to provide our customers and users an
authoritative and supportive voice through our key channels
• Reacted quickly to changing demands – repurposing our online
learning space, changing our products

19. ‘Mothballing a service is a lot
easier than starting one up again.’

20. ST JOHN: RESTARTING OPERATIONS
Finding a way through the noise

21. ST JOHN: RESTARTING OPERATIONS
• Started planning early during lockdown
• Modelled what we thought the recovery would look like:
• Three stage process
• Mapped what each department should be doing at each stage of the
recovery
• Standardised planning across the organisation – documentation,
reporting and metrics
• Regular updating of documentation and process as things change
• What will be our offer in response to each
• Planning for second wave/localised lockdowns/track and trace

22. ST JOHN: RESTARTING OPERATIONS
• Difficult to predict
• Unknown political
and user behaviour
• Very costly –
mismatch between
capacity and
income
Volatility
• Suppressed
demand
• More stable and
slow growth
• Reduction in
capacity to meet
income
Recovery • Stable but steady
growth
• Shrunken
economy
• Greater use of
tech and
automation
New normal

23. ST JOHN: RESTARTING OPERATIONS

24. • Government announcement
of working safely during
coronavirus
• Development of a checklist to
continue to provide our
customers with that
authoritative and supportive
voice as they begin to restart
ST JOHN: RESTARTING OPERATIONS

25. ST JOHN: RESTARTING OPERATIONS
• Working safely during coronavirus checklist gave us the template for how
we approached our restart
• Definition of our covid-19 secure standard – publicise on the website
• Safe systems of work for trainers
• Identification of venues we wanted to reopen
• Structured approach to our risk assessments with clear identification of
responsibility for approvals and sign offs
• Close involvement with trustees
• Regular communication with trainers and provision of training even though
on furlough
• Clear communication to create confidence in our customer/user base
• Importance of flexibility while the government finds its way forward

26. QUESTIONS

27. PRACTICAL SUPPORT AND
RESOURCES

28. TRUST LAW RESPONSE
• As the world faces an unprecedented set of challenges posed by the global
COVID-19 pandemic, the Thomson Reuters Foundation is leveraging its
unique blend of journalism and legal skills to strengthen the global
response.
• Our global pro bono legal network, TrustLaw, is working closely with our
legal partners to increase efforts to provide dedicated pro bono support
during these challenging times.

29. TRUST LAW COVID-19 RESOURCES
Resource hub Legal checklist Webinar series

30. • The Legal Checklist helps
non-profits and social
enterprises identify their
legal needs in the face of
covid-19.
• You can find the covid-19
legal checklist by following
the links provided at the
end of the presentation.
COVID-19 LEGAL CHECKLIST

31. TRUSTLAW MEMBERSHIP
• Not currently a member of TrustLaw? Submit an application for
membership.
• Useful links: Membership criteria; Membership application form
• Already a member but still require further legal assistance? Submit a legal
request via the TrustLaw portal.

32. NCVO PRACTICAL SUPPORT
All organisations can access our NCVO Knowhow guidance, tools
and resources.
Check out our webinar series on topics relevant to the pandemic on
NCVO’s training platform.
Next webinar: Easing of lockdown: practical considerations for
managing and supporting staff, 29th June, 3pm
Recording and signposting to relevant material will be sent round.
We would love to hear your feedback.

33. USEFUL RESOURCES
NCVO Coronavirus Guidance
Returning to work safely
Risk assessment
NCVO legal advice page
TrustLaw
TrustLaw COVID-19 Resource Hub – link
TrustLaw COVID-19 Webinar Showcase - link
TrustLaw COVID-19 Legal Checklist – pdf link
TrustLaw COVID-19 Legal Checklist – interactive version

34. GET IN TOUCH
• Eversheds Sutherland: sarahvalentine@Eversheds-Sutherland.com
• St John Ambulance: Andrew.New@sja.org.uk
• Trust Law: TrustLaw@thomsonreuters.com

35. NCVO champions the voluntary sector and volunteer movement to
create a better society.
We connect, represent and support over 15,000 voluntary sector
member organisations, from the smallest community groups to the
largest charities.
This helps our members and their millions of volunteers make the
biggest difference to the causes they believe in.
• Search for NCVO membership
• Visit www.ncvo.org.uk/join
• Email membership@ncvo.org.uk
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