Keeping residents Covid-safe with site visits to businesses

June 28, 2021

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council will be working with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to contact and visit businesses across the Borough to ensure they are Covid-secure, keeping staff and customers safe and well.

The Government tasked HSE with carrying out spot checks on businesses to ensure Covid compliance, and this work has been given to Local Authorities to carry out the inspections on their behalf from Monday 5 July, expected to last three to four weeks.

During the checks, the Council’s regulatory services team will provide advice and guidance to manage risk and protect workers, customers and visitors. This can range from giving specific advice, issuing enforcement notices, stopping certain work practices until they are made safe and, where businesses fail to comply, prosecution.

Being Covid-secure means that businesses need to put adjustments in place to manage the risk and protect workers and others from Coronavirus. For further information on how to manage the risk of coronavirus in different business sectors please read the government guidance.

Cllr Martin Terry, cabinet member for public protection, said: “It really has been tremendous seeing so many people visiting our town since restrictions have been slowly lifted by Government. We have seen thousands of visitors across the whole Borough, spending money in local businesses and providing a much-needed boost for our town’s economy.

“The majority of our businesses in the town have put every appropriate measure in place to keep customers and staff safe and well, to help prevent the spread of the virus. It is absolutely vital we do not let these high standards slip, and so we will be working with the HSE to carry out random site visits to businesses across the town, to ensure maintain the work to be Covid-secure, which is a legal requirement.

“We want our businesses to thrive, particularly as we enjoy more sunshine and welcome more visitors, but it is so important they continue to keep their businesses and safe and secure as possible.”