Penguin Training Ltd Policy- Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Preparing for and responding to the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak Introduction Given its rapid spread, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) to be a public health emergency of international concern. Given this, Penguin Training Ltd has developed a 3-phase approach to mitigate the impact on the business.
The 3 phases are ‘Prevent’, ‘Respond’ and ‘Recover’.
Assessment of risk
As a predominantly work-based learning provider, we have staff who visit workplaces nationally within England. They also attend our office in Hove. Given the spread of our work and the contact our staff have with large numbers of people, daily, the risk is significant for potential infection. We have very low numbers of visitors to our centres so the risk of infection from visitors is low. We also need to account for the type of workplaces we deliver training in. The significant majority are Health & Social Care settings. Our visits to care settings pose particular risk to elderly and vulnerable persons. Prevent phase Our primary objective is to prevent disruption from infection and continue our business operations in the usual way.
To do this we will take the following actions:
⚫ Develop more remote learning resources and where possible, deliver training online and via technology
⚫ Ensure we have online resources for all our courses so we can deliver these remotely as necessary
⚫ Provide all staff with access to, and use remote meeting software
⚫ Allow staff to work from home wherever possible to conduct activities such as administrative duties and remote meetings
⚫ Maintain strong communication links with our stakeholders and request they report any suspected cases of COVID-19 in the first instance so we can assess any risks to our staff and take action Version 1 – March 2020
⚫ We will promote good hygiene across all our offices and beyond, and give prevention advice to staff and learners
⚫ Ensure staff understand their responsibilities and follow procedures
⚫ Ensure staff welfare and the welfare of our stakeholders by operating following the advice from Public Health England and the Government. Respond phase In the event of a report from one of our employers of a suspected or confirmed case of Coronavirus, we will take the following actions:
• Take details of the case
• Identify any possible exposure to staff members who may have visited during the infectious phase and inform them to self-isolate
• Ensure any exposed staff have the equipment to undertake work from home if they are asymptomatic.
• Stop all in-person visits and move to fully remote learning for learners in that workplace, if they are not ill. Ensure learners still receive their learning
• Resume visits once we are assured that the risk of infection has been eliminated. In the event a staff member reports exposure we will take the following actions:
• Immediately ask them to self-isolate for 7 days and provide equipment to work from home if asymptomatic • Call or report to the NHS if they suspect they have contracted the illness
• Identify everyone who may have come into contact with the staff member during the infectious phase and inform them immediately of the situation. Internal staff members will be asked to self-isolate for 7 days and given the equipment to work from home.
• Close any office that that the affected person has visited and
• Maintain open and frequent communications with all stakeholders to ensure expectations are managed and customers are kept informed.
• If the staff member is ill and unable to work, we will reschedule all learner appointments and keep learners and employers informed.
• In the event of large-scale staff illness, we will ensure we communicate the situation to all our employers and managers will prioritise learners and deploy available resources accordingly.
• If necessary, we will recruit temporary support staff to ensure minimum disruption to our learners and employers. Recovery phase In the event that we see significant disruption to our business we will take the following actions to ensure we recover at the earliest opportunity.
Version 1 – March 2020
• Managers will review learner progress and identify any interruptions to learning, prioritising these and allocating resources accordingly
• We will conduct additional learning sessions to ensure learners remain on target
• We will retain any temporary staff to help support any backlogs
•We will ensure staff welfare and their fitness to return to work following illness
• We will continue to monitor the situation and update plans accordingly
The 3 phases are ‘Prevent’, ‘Respond’ and ‘Recover’.
Assessment of risk
As a predominantly work-based learning provider, we have staff who visit workplaces nationally within England. They also attend our office in Hove. Given the spread of our work and the contact our staff have with large numbers of people, daily, the risk is significant for potential infection. We have very low numbers of visitors to our centres so the risk of infection from visitors is low. We also need to account for the type of workplaces we deliver training in. The significant majority are Health & Social Care settings. Our visits to care settings pose particular risk to elderly and vulnerable persons. Prevent phase Our primary objective is to prevent disruption from infection and continue our business operations in the usual way.
To do this we will take the following actions:
⚫ Develop more remote learning resources and where possible, deliver training online and via technology
⚫ Ensure we have online resources for all our courses so we can deliver these remotely as necessary
⚫ Provide all staff with access to, and use remote meeting software
⚫ Allow staff to work from home wherever possible to conduct activities such as administrative duties and remote meetings
⚫ Maintain strong communication links with our stakeholders and request they report any suspected cases of COVID-19 in the first instance so we can assess any risks to our staff and take action Version 1 – March 2020
⚫ We will promote good hygiene across all our offices and beyond, and give prevention advice to staff and learners
⚫ Ensure staff understand their responsibilities and follow procedures
⚫ Ensure staff welfare and the welfare of our stakeholders by operating following the advice from Public Health England and the Government. Respond phase In the event of a report from one of our employers of a suspected or confirmed case of Coronavirus, we will take the following actions:
• Take details of the case
• Identify any possible exposure to staff members who may have visited during the infectious phase and inform them to self-isolate
• Ensure any exposed staff have the equipment to undertake work from home if they are asymptomatic.
• Stop all in-person visits and move to fully remote learning for learners in that workplace, if they are not ill. Ensure learners still receive their learning
• Resume visits once we are assured that the risk of infection has been eliminated. In the event a staff member reports exposure we will take the following actions:
• Immediately ask them to self-isolate for 7 days and provide equipment to work from home if asymptomatic • Call or report to the NHS if they suspect they have contracted the illness
• Identify everyone who may have come into contact with the staff member during the infectious phase and inform them immediately of the situation. Internal staff members will be asked to self-isolate for 7 days and given the equipment to work from home.
• Close any office that that the affected person has visited and
• Maintain open and frequent communications with all stakeholders to ensure expectations are managed and customers are kept informed.
• If the staff member is ill and unable to work, we will reschedule all learner appointments and keep learners and employers informed.
• In the event of large-scale staff illness, we will ensure we communicate the situation to all our employers and managers will prioritise learners and deploy available resources accordingly.
• If necessary, we will recruit temporary support staff to ensure minimum disruption to our learners and employers. Recovery phase In the event that we see significant disruption to our business we will take the following actions to ensure we recover at the earliest opportunity.
Version 1 – March 2020
• Managers will review learner progress and identify any interruptions to learning, prioritising these and allocating resources accordingly
• We will conduct additional learning sessions to ensure learners remain on target
• We will retain any temporary staff to help support any backlogs
•We will ensure staff welfare and their fitness to return to work following illness
• We will continue to monitor the situation and update plans accordingly
