During his televised broadcast, Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed that people should only leave their home under a list of ‘very limited purposes’ and that only those who can not work from home should still travel to their place of work.
Since then there has been much confusions mainly perpetuated by social media and the mainstream media who have confused this advice. Many people believe that you can not travel to work if you are not a key worker. This is not the case. The Government Website clearly states that you can still travel to work if you can not work from home and even mentions construction as an industry where work can continue. The only caveat to this is if the location can safely implement social distancing measures by spreading start times and keeping workers form congregating in groups.
We think this FAQ’s page gives the clearest advice.
What are the guidelines for domestic electricians going into people’s home?
Last week @BBCNews asked this very question; political correspondent Chris Mason confirmed (after speaking to Government’s officials) the following:
“If you have to carry out work in somebody’s home such as repairs or maintenance you are allowed to do that as long as you stay 2m away from each other, maintain those social distancing guidelines.”
This means you can still work in domestic and commercial premises if you can maintain your distance. Watch the BBC interview at the following link. There are a lot of empty offices out there at present so maybe now represents an opportunity for electricians to carry out inspections and maintenance tasks that are harder when the offices are full.
What are the guidelines for construction professionals & commercial electricians?
The Construction Leadership Council produced a code of practice for construction professionals and guidelines for social distancing. The key guidelines are as follows:
- To remain 2m apart from each other
- Start times on site to be staggered
- Site workers encouraged to avoid public transport
- Reduce the number of attendees during site inductions
- Re-usable PPE to be thoroughly cleaned and wherever possible disposable PPE should be used.
- Site workers encouraged to use the stairs rather than lifts or hoists.
- Frequent hand washing and hand sanitisers to be made available.
The full guidance document can be downloaded from here.Â
Financial help for self-employed electricians & tradespeople
The Chancellor has announced last week a Self-Employed Income Support Scheme which brings parity with current support measures implemented by the Government to support business negatively impacted by COVID-19.
Read our recent blog ‘Will the Government Support the Self-Employed?‘ for more information about current financial support available to sole traders. For details on the newly launched Self-Employed Income Support Scheme visit the Gov.uk website.