A COVID-19 Update from Coles KEEPING EVERYONE SAFE DURING THIS TIME
Dear Coles Customers,
We know that health and safety is front of mind for lots of our customers at the moment, and we want to let you know that we’re working closely with the Department of Health to ensure the most effective protection for both you and our team members in our stores during the COVID-19 situation.
Increased cleaning & sanitisation throughout our stores
We’ve added extra cleaning & sanitisation to high contact areas of the store, including trolleys, baskets, checkout areas and self-service screens. We ask all customers not to enter a store if they are unwell, to wash or sanitise their hands before entering stores, and to remind everyone to not touch their face unless your hands have been sanitised. The sanitisers we use at Coles have all been confrmed to kill coronavirus.
Not touching face & washing hands regularly
We have received questions about protective equipment in-store. To date, the Department of Health factsheet does not consider wearing gloves or masks to be necessary when shopping or at check-outs, and interactions in-store within social distancing guidelines are considered low risk. The Department of Health factsheet recommends washing hands regularly, using hand sanitiser and keeping a safe distance as the most effective ways of protecting yourself and others.
Keeping a safe distance
We’ll be adding signs around our stores and at the checkout area to help you follow social distancing guidelines. The length of a trolley (1.5m) is a good guide for the distance you should keep from other customers and team members, and we ask that you follow all directions signposted in-store on keeping a safe distance.
Less contact near the checkout
We’ll be making a few changes at our supermarket checkouts to help with social distancing. We’ll be asking you to queue at the marked signs in front of the checkout, at the start of the belted area and when you’re packing. We’ll also ask you to pack your own bags to minimise both handling & close contact time. When paying, we recommend card payments instead of cash, and we encourage you to use tap and go to make checking out as easy as possible.
Making our bakery more convenient
We’ll be making a few changes to make our bakeries more convenient. Single item bakery goods such as in-store baked bread will be individually pre-wrapped, and for bread loaves, we’ll be stopping slicing on-demand to ensure better availability of pre-sliced options.
Finally, we’ll be regularly rotating our teams on checkouts throughout the day to help keep everyone safer. Please respect the guidelines we’re putting in place as your health and safety remains a priority for us. Best wishes,