Safety first with visiting tradespeople
We all need peace of mind when letting people into our property these days. Sam Wylie-harris seeks some expert advice
Many homeowners are currently looking to renovate their homes, and with Covid-19 restrictions likely to be ongoing for a number of months, it’s worth getting up to speed with what to do when it comes to making changes, however small, to your property,” says James Lee, communications director at the Glass and Glazing Federation’s consumer advice website.
Also, emergency home repairs are more common in the colder months. To help, Lee has provided some guidance to ensure you stay safe while work is being done on your home.
First, you should ask yourself some important questions. Present rules permit tradespeople to carry out home improvements, as long as the workers have no Covid-19 symptoms and are following the correct health and safety guidance.
However, it’s worth doing some research to ensure you keep yourself, those that live in your home, and the people carrying out the works, safe. Make sure you ask… Does anyone involved have symptoms of Covid-19? Is there anyone with underlying health conditions in the property? And are there any sick or elderly people living there who could be affected? Could anyone entering the property impact on the health of anyone living in it? Will anyone visiting, such as a surveyor or tradesperson, be affected by working in my home? Will all the people working in the home be wearing the correct PPE (personal protective equipment)?
Instead of initial face-toface meetings with a home improvement company, you could consider video calls to eliminate physical contact. Most tradespeople will be comfortable doing this, just make sure you have a good internet connection, your camera and microphone are working, and try and avoid background noise so there are no miscommunications.
A video tour is also a great way to show a tradesperson your home before they visit, to give them an idea of the space and what needs doing. Just ensure you give them a good enough idea of the job required and information, such as measurements, shape and any obstacles that may have to be considered.
If you would rather meet the tradesperson in person to discuss the job, wherever possible, do it in an outside space, such as a driveway, porch or garden.
It is important to establish that your tradespeople are working to government guidelines before commissioning the work.
Any companies you use should be following government guidelines, carry out a comprehensive health and safety risk assessment for the job and brief their entire team on the guidance/risk assessment.
It’s also worth noting that no work should be carried out at a household that is shielding or isolating, unless the work is to repair a direct risk to the safety and security of the household.
Which brings us to PPE. Although not all PPE will be directly related to Covid-19, it is worth insisting the tradespeople working in your home are wearing gloves, masks and/or visors if they are likely to be within two metres of another person in your home.
Upon entering your property, expect tradespeople to wear gloves, masks, protective footwear, and possibly overalls, hard hats and goggles or visors.
Do not to touch any PPE, or other materials that are being used for your home improvement, and ensure that all surfaces have been thoroughly cleaned with soap and water or chemical cleaners.
It is always good to establish the ground rules in advance to maintain a safe environment, but especially in these days of pandemic.
Once you’ve consulted and agreed the terms of the job, it is time to stipulate some basic health and safety factors. You should require your tradespeople to make regular use of hand sanitiser; to ensure they know which parts of the home they can and cannot enter; to keep a safe distance of two metres at all times; to eat and drink away from your property, in their van for example; to bring their own cleaning products and to make sure they clean any surfaces that they’ve come into contact with at the end of each working day.
For added safety, you might want to leave some anti-bacterial wipes in the room they are working in. You should also ensure the area they are working in is well-ventilated throughout the project.
For larger jobs, such as renovations and extensions, which require a bigger team encompassing various tradespeople, you might want to ask the company to consider hiring a portable chemical toilet to use outside your home.
These can be hired from around £50 per week and it could well save you – and those working on your home – a headache if they can’t use your bathroom.
A tradesperson or company should be more than happy to comply with the above requirements in the current climate.
Lots of homeowners would expect a full risk assessment before a tradesperson even turns up at the property, so rest assured that you won’t be the first person to have requested this.
It is important to establish that your tradespeople are working to government guidelines before commissioning the work