Gloucestershire County Council invest £300,000 for six Covid-19 compliance officers
They'll be working with businesses to ensure coronavirus measures are implemented properly
Gloucestershire County Council are hiring six new Covid-19 compliance officers to help businesses do all they can to limit the spread of coronavirus.
As local infection rates continue to rise, the local authority have used £300,000 of the £2.2m Government Test and Trace grant to fund an officer for each district in the county.
The officers will supplement the vast amount of work which environmental health have been doing since the start of lockdown in March, including making sure business closures were complied with, guiding businesses to re-open and helping the public understand the rules and guidance.
Since the start of September, local environmental health officers have worked closely with more than 550 businesses in Gloucestershire to make sure they have the support they need to manage the risks linked to Covid-19. This includes: advice around the rule of six, test and trace, face coverings, and social distancing.
The officers will have a range of new and existing legal powers where measures are consistently not being met – up until now the need for formal action to be taken has been low as businesses work hard to ensure they are Covid-secure.
So far, two Health and Safety Notices have been served for not having adequate measures in place to control risk of Covid and one £1000 Fixed Penalty Notice has been issued for not displaying the Coronovirus NHS QR code or taking contact details.
Other duties of the Covid-19 compliance officers will include:
- Continuing to engage with and provide advice to businesses on managing the risks from Covid-19 in the community
- Identifying trends and collecting insight on business sectors needing additional support to comply with safe workplace requirements
- Further Covid prevention activities including: street walks, spot checks and drop in clinics
Leader of the county council, Councillor Mark Hawthorne, said:
“It’s a difficult time for us all and, in particular for our county businesses, who are all working hard to implement the crucial prevention measures – but it is important that we stick with it.
“Our environmental health officers are there to help businesses; to provide advice and guidance, but also to enforce the guidance, where there is no other choice. I want to thank our district enforcement teams for the work they are already doing to help slow the spread of the virus - and our local business community – keep it up.”