The coronavirus outbreak has certainly changed the way in which many organisations operate at the moment and it’s no different if you provide home repair and maintenance services. It’s important to make sure that you stay safe while doing your job, and that you protect those whose homes you visit.
A recent article for Which? explored some of the steps you could take to help reduce the risks and ensure that you’re only going out to carry out essential maintenance work during the nationwide lockdown.
One of the most important things to do at the moment is limit face-to-face contact with people outside your own household.
With that in mind, you could explore alternative ways of talking to homeowners and assessing the work that needs to be done. The consumer rights organisation revealed that some tradespeople are using the likes of FaceTime, Google Hangouts and Skype to carry out consultations and assessments of the work required.
While you may find that many people can wait for the maintenance work to be carried out, there will undoubtedly be some more urgent cases.
This could include something like a cracked window pane that could shatter or break irreparably if it’s left too long.
Using a window film could be the solution to emergency window glass repair, as it can be applied to both internal and external glazing and the repair will take a matter of minutes. It could even mean that you’re able to complete the repair without having to enter someone’s home.
If you do have to go into someone’s property, Which? revealed what steps some tradespeople are taking to make sure they stay as safe as possible.
These include making sure you’re wearing the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), regularly washing your hands and/or using hand sanitizer, and asking homeowners to stay in another part of the home during your visit to maintain social distancing.
You should also make sure you ask every household whether anyone is self isolating because they have symptoms of COVID-19. It’s also sensible to find out whether there are any vulnerable people at the property, so that you can take additional precautions to protect them.
Of course, if you have any symptoms of coronavirus, however mild, you should not go to work and should be at home self isolating.
The government advice is constantly being updated, however, so it’s essential that you and your employer stay up to date with the most recent updates coming from the Gov.uk website, as well as guidance issued by Public Health England (PHE).
Among the advice from PHE is to make sure you regularly clean and disinfect any objects that you regularly touch to help reduce the risk of spreading the infection. You can clean things like your tools using regular household cleaners.
When you’re washing your hands, make sure you do so for at least 20 seconds. If you’re working out and about, you should carry hand sanitizer with you if you won’t have access to facilities where you can regularly wash your hands.