Coronavirus Team B Communications
Policy #2 - Saturday, 21 March 2020
Link to the form you must complete to confirm you have read this >
Our number one priority is the health and safety of our team members. By not following these instructions you may put fellow team members at an increased risk, as well as compromising our ability to keep functioning as a business.
We all have a responsibility to take measures that help control the spread of the virus and protect the most vulnerable in our community.
As you know, we have been implementing safeguards to minimise the chances that our team members will come into contact with the virus, and if they do, to minimise the risk of them passing it on to other people at work.
The situation is changing daily and so these measures will evolve as the broader public health strategy evolves.
We may all find in the next few weeks that more people that we know, or know of, are being tested for Coronavirus/COVID-19, particularly if the government loosens the criteria for who can be tested.
This email contains:
Rules for whether you can come to work or not, and when you need to report to me.
For people being tested for COVID-19, but awaiting results.
Rules for whether you can come to work
Do you have a cough, sore throat, fatigue, fever or high temperature (37.5 or above), or shortness of breath?
​Have you come into contact with someone who has a confirmed case of COVID-19?
Have you been directed by a doctor to be tested for Coronavirus?
Have you come into contact with someone who returned from overseas in the last 14 days?
Have you come into contact with someone who has been directed to self-isolate, but is not a confirmed case of COVID-19?
Do you have a runny nose, but no high temperature, cough, sore throat, fatigue, or shortness of breath?
tracey@biome.com.au or tel: 0408 009983
Suspected case of COVID-19 awaiting test results
This relates to someone who is showing symptoms and has been directed by their GP to be tested for COVID-19, but it is prior to the results being known.
What you need to do
You must not come to work, and must remain self-isolated at home and strictly follow your doctor’s advice, including following the advised isolation measures in your home (such as staying in a separate room from others, not sharing facilities or food, etc).
Advise immediately your direct manager and the director, Tracey Bailey (0408009983 or tracey@biome.com.au) of your situation.
Should you be confirmed as having COVID-19, we will be contacted by the local Public Health Unit, whose role it is to be in contact with close contacts from the workplace, if any, to advise them on what action to take.
What Biome will do
Advise anyone who has been at work with you in a potential close or casual contact situation that a colleague has a possible case of Coronavirus and is being tested; and, that they are to monitor for any symptoms they feel.
Thoroughly clean and disinfect the person's workstation, and any communal areas they have used.
Policy #1 - Sunday, 15 March 2020
Link to the form you must complete to confirm you have read this >
Social Distancing Policy
Biome cares deeply about the health and safety of our employees and making sure the work environment is as safe as possible. We are dedicated to minimising the likelihood of health risks associated with the Coronavirus.
As Australia enters the next phase of helping to slow the spread, we are being asked to practice social distancing. This involves keeping a distance of 1 to 1.5 meters from other people, not touching, and avoiding sharing closed spaces for prolonged periods of time.
Currently, the chances of contracting coronavirus are still low as there is not widespread community transmission. We are thus encouraged to go about our lives and businesses for as long as possible to find the balance between slowing the spread, but not affecting people’s livelihoods more than necessary.
While you go about your day, your primary responsibility is to stop yourself and others from being infected, by washing your hands frequently and thoroughly, not touching your face, practising good hygiene when you sneeze or cough, and staying away from others when you are unwell.
It is possible that one or more of our team will contract coronavirus and will have been at work before they are aware. To prepare for this circumstance, we need to be all ‘keeping our distance’ so that as few people as possible will have their lives impacted by needing to self-isolate.
We are a family at Biome and I want you all to be reassured that we are here to support each other, and that Biome is commited to supporting any of our team experiencing financial or emotional hardship. Please do not hesitate to contact me at any time to discuss your situation.
Close and casual contact
Our policy is guided by these Government guidelines – until revised:
CLOSE contact is defined as:
Spending more than 15 minutes face-to-face with a person who is a confirmed case, in the 24 hours before they showed symptoms or once they showed symptoms
Sharing a closed space for more than two hours with a person who is a confirmed case, in the 24 hours before they showed symptoms or once they showed symptoms.
CASUAL contact is defined as:
Spending less than 15 minutes face-to-face in any setting with a person who is a confirmed case AND they had symptoms at the time
Sharing a closed space for less than two hours with a person who is a confirmed case AND they had symptoms at the time
Currently, those who have had casual contact are not required to self-isolate, but to go about your normal business, while monitoring yourself for 14 days for the most common symptoms of COVID-19.
Thus, our goal in the Biome workplace is to avoid what is defined as CLOSE contact, and to minimise what is defined as CASUAL contact.
From Monday, 16 March, we are implementing the following actions. It will take us a few days to fine tune the practices, but I am confident that we are getting prepared well in advance of when required, as we have been doing for the past few weeks.
Your personal responsibilities
No shaking hands, hugging, or touching each other.
Practising exemplary hygiene, including regularly cleaning hands with soap and water for a minimum of 20 seconds, and using a hand sanitiser.
Actively taking personal responsibility for the sanitising shared surfaces and devices that you touch at work.
Staying away from work or others if you are feeling unwell, particularly any of the symptoms of coronavirus:
Respiratory symptoms
Fever (a temperature over 38°C)
Cough
Shortness of breath
Breathing difficulties
If you come to work exhibiting signs of illness, your manager will discuss whether you should be at work and may send you home. This is important in making sure everyone feels safe at work.
Bring your BYO Kit to Work*
(because these items will no longer be provided at work):
Hand towel
Keepcup / mug
Cutlery
Container with your food
Water bottle
A bag for your dirties
After use, all your cutlery, cups, plates are to be placed immediately into your bag and taken home and washed, not left on the sink, or at work. Please also take any food in containers home every day.
*If you need assistance with any of the above, Biome is very happy to provide for you.
Facilities changes
All hand towels removed.
All shared crockery, cutlery and mugs, glasses removed from staff areas by end of Tuesday, 17 March.
No communal food to be supplied, no fruit, cakes, etc.
Work practices
All discussions are to happen from a distance of 1 to 1.5 metres. Your manager/supervisor will be working on the practicalities of this, such as picking in the morning, packing stations, store teams, and Collective workshops.
Minimise sharing of office space. Specific instructions will be provided relevant to your workspace.
No meetings with more than two people, and participants keeping 1.5 meters apart.
Assisting customers in store: keep interactions with customers to less than 5 minutes and keep a distance of 1 metre. The public areas of our stores are generally not considered closed spaces.
Goods receiving. Please be aware that virus can exist on surfaces, possibly boxes, for several days. Those receiving deliveries and touching boxes need to wash hands immediately after doing so, and not touch your face before you do.
No external visitors to the office – use the telephone or video conferencing.
Breaks
No more than two people together and keeping 1 to 1.5 meters distance. At Milton, we recommend you use the outdoor cabana.
Cleaning
Increased cleaning and sanitising practices. A separate policy will be issued on this.
Self isolation and leave
Anyone who believes they meet the requirements for self-isolating must advise your manager and contact Tracey to discuss your leave arrangements. We are commited to supporting both permanent and casual employees who are unable to work because of public health requirements related to coronavirus.
If you are required to self isolate at home for 14 days, at that time, we will discuss what arrangements can be made for you to continue duties from home, or make other arrangements.
Future steps
I will be looking at the roster to engineer a separation of critical people so they are not at work at the same time.
There will be a thermometer for checking your temperature before starting work available at your location later in the week. Instructions will be issued at that point.
Thursday, 12 March 2020
Friday, 6 March 2020
Friday, 31 January 2020
- Hand sanitiser is placed at each checkout, at your sink/s, kitchen, store room. Dept of Health recommends an alcohol-based one, which ours is (ethanol is a light alcohol) - though I am checking on the percentage. Feel free to purchase non-natural ones if you prefer.
- Liquid soap at all sinks.
- Specific hand towel to be placed separately with a sign indicating that it is not to be touched with dirty hands - only used after hands have been washed. Carolyn will communicate separately with each of you on a strategy for hand towels / tea towels.
- Computer keyboards, mouse, eftpos machines, and counter top are sprayed with sanitizer and wiped with a throwaway tissue first thing in the morning, at midday and at end of day.
- Staff dealing with the public and handling money are reminded to wash their hands every hour and definitely before eating or touching food. (Place a small sign on the computer monitors to remind, in the store room etc). Also wash hands again in store after returning from a public toilet of you touched the door handle.
- Staff should be conscious of keeping their distance from all customers and in particular, any customer that is coughing, sneezing, runny nose. After close interaction, immediately wash and sanitise hands.
