Re-opening your visitor attraction and producing your Risk Assessment

9th June 2020

COVID-19 SECURE

Re-opening your visitor attraction and producing your Risk Assessment

This document has been produced in conjunction with the English Riviera BID Company based on draft Government guidelines to help Attraction Providers ‘get a head start’ for those businesses aiming to re-open when the Government give us permission to do so.

As theme parks, aquariums, fair grounds, piers and other visitor attractions plan to re-launch after the pandemic de-escalates, there will need to ensure that pleasure activities are both safe for guests and staff.

There may be many challenges ahead dependent on what guidance is given from government on how we can start the process of returning to normal operation and the various stages that may entail. Although this will be an ever-changing environment, including the possibility of re-opening and operating on a reduced capacity for the attraction.

We are all quietly hoping that we will get the ‘green light’ for the 4^th July BUT this will not be confirmed until closer to the date and is totally dependent on the behaviour of the COVID-19 Virus.

Key to re-opening is the need for you to produce a Risk Assessment demonstrating that you have adopted the guidelines and in so become COVID-19 Secure and produce a risk assessment for their own accommodation business before re-opening.

Final Government guidance will follow, but this document will allow you to get a head start, thinking now about your own safety as well as that of your staff and customers before 4^th July.

This advice is for visitor attractions only. If your business includes other services such as a bar or a restaurant providing evening meals, you will also need to read the appropriate guidelines for that business sector.

Summary of the guidance

It will be a legal requirement of re-opening that a lead manager has ensured your business demonstrates compliance and understanding of the COVID-19 Secure guidelines by producing a written Risk Assessment document and implementing it.

Every visitor attraction will be different and need to think carefully about their own needs and circumstances.

A Government representative can request to see your Risk Assessment at any time.

GENERAL OPERATIONAL RISK ASSESSMENT CONSIDERATIONS

Safety

Although the need to re-open for financial reasons is going to be essential for all operators, this still needs to be conducted in a controlled and safely managed process.

It is strongly advised that operators apply the same policies and procedures that are currently in place. Policies may have to be changed in some circumstances, but the standards should remain.

Training, assessment, support and supervision will be critical during the initial opening period in all areas of your operation.

Covid – 19 Risk Assessment

When considering re-opening, in line with the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, all attraction operators will be required to prepare a suitable and sufficient risk assessment for the hazards associated with Covid-19, considering how their employees, visitors and others whom may be on site such as contractors, might be affected.

A risk assessment is a tool to identify the risk level associated with Covid-19 and the control measures being put in place for both employees and visitors in order to protect their health and safety.

For further information on risk assessment please visit the HSE Website. https://www.hse.gov.uk/risk/

STAFF

Health and Welfare of Staff

The Health and welfare of staff is of paramount importance in order to keep employees safe and healthy and give them confidence in being able to return to work. The Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 places a general duty on Operators to protect the health and safety of its employees and others.

Suitable arrangements are to be put in place (as derived from the risk assessment process), to enable employees and visitors to be kept safe and healthy.

Once these arrangements are put in place, communicating and engaging with employees about these arrangements and protection measures in place is key.

It is important they understand

what the measures are for and their part to play in implementing them.
how to report something to line management if something is not as it should be
if they have concerns or they are short of materials such as cleaning products or PPE.

Social distancing is a key part of the Governments Covid-19 protection strategy; therefore, consideration needs to be given to

how social distancing measures can be applied to employee during their work and rest periods.
re-thinking of how tasks are carried out.
where safety critical tasks cannot be altered and social distancing during these tasks cannot be maintained, then suitable PPE needs to be worn.

Your risk assessment should identify these tasks and assess what protective measures are suitable.

Staff Communications, Training and Competence

It is vital to ensure Staff Communication is thought of at this time. Many staff may have been out of the business for some time and only seeing any attraction updates via social media.

Time must be allocated prior to opening to reintroduce operating protocols to provide safe places of work for them to be able to return to and perform their role in providing a safe place for our customers. Retraining your staff on your new protocols and listing to any concerns or inputs they have; they will be the front line in your operations.

Utilize a full questionnaire for all staff before returning to the workplace to identify any illnesses, any health concerns regarding Covid 19, and any team members who may have been in contact with someone with CV19 in the last few weeks. Some of your key staff may be living with high risk groups or medically vulnerable people these team members may need to be kept away from the workplace.

Ensure that your staff are fully prepared and have all the skills and knowledge they will need when facing our guests for the first time.

Update your staff on your plans and listen to any concerns or inputs.
Staff will no doubt have a lot of questions when returning to work and may be nervous about large crowds.
Ensure that your staff are fully prepared and have all the skills, knowledge and necessary PPE they will need when operating within your facility.
Review your own training policies if needed and only change them if no other options are available. Use the most relevant person/people to complete training and assessment, it is not always the managers that know how the equipment and processes work the best, it’s the people who have been completing the tasks for lengthy periods.
Apply your policies and procedures on relaunch as you would at any other time. If amendments are to be made to current policy and procedure, then approach this on a risk assessed basis. Each department will have different complexity of tasks and the staff members completing the most complex of tasks should at minimum be reassessed.
If you do not have competent people at the initial stages of re-opening in some areas or on certain rides/attractions then do not operate them until training can be completed, the public will understand through an open and honest approach

PPE

The provision of PPE to employees is often considered a last resort, in that all other types of measures should be considered before the use of PPE. Provision and use of protective clothing and equipment for staff will be entirely compliant and in line with Government and PHE guidance.
The correct use and removal of such PPE is key in order to protect employees and stop the spread of germs as the PPE is worn and removed. All PPE should be discarded of by suitable waste removal means.

We understand there are publicised issues of PPE stock, to help you find materials we have worked with TDA to find a local supplier. Edmundson Torquay has excellent stock levels of sanitiser, masks and cleaning products, as well as having good stock of Perspex screens. The Company has the Royal Warrant to supply the Crown and is also a supplier to the NHS. The Company are very supportive and will prioritise English Riviera tourism and hospitality businesses orders. To find out more and to discuss your requirements in the first instance please visit http://www.edmundson-electrical.co.uk/ and contact David Martini, david.martini@eel.co.uk, mobile 07956 492480.

PRE-OPENING CHECKS

Water Quality/Legionella control

It is essential that when buildings reopen following the lifting of COVID 19 restrictions, that any water system is not simply put straight back into use. During the period of shutdown, it would be sensible to formulate a recommissioning plan for each water system to allow safe start-up and assurance to users that it is safe. Where buildings have been empty for some time and during warm weather, it is likely that some increase in bacteria levels and biofilm will occur.

Consider individual water systems
Complete testing over a period of time before putting back into use
Source third party advice and testing if the skill set is not within the business
Keep records of your testing and results
Normal water testing should continue for water attractions such as log flumes, rapid rides, water cannons, water spray effects etc as in accordance with the management of bathing water quality and repealing directive 76/160/EEC
Flush through all water filters/softeners and coffee machines that may have been idle for extended periods

Ride Maintenance

Many attractions may have been sitting for lengthy periods with little or no operation. These attractions will need to have a detailed assessment before being put back into public use. Although most attractions would have recently completed their annual inspections, there is an array of issues that could occur during an extended closed period including corrosion, change in characteristics of lubricants, rodents, flat spots on wheels, excess dust to name just a few. Many planned preventative checks would have been missed during this period including daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly checks etc.

All rides and attraction that fall under ADIPS still need to have a valid Declaration of Operational Compliance (DOC) for when the attraction is put back into public use. The standard has not changed and the HSE has confirmed that this will still be expected.

It will be essential that your maintenance program is reviewed and missed checks either completed or risk assessed. Some simple tips could include:

There may be a rush for independent inspection so start your planning early
Reviewing O&M manuals supplied by manufacturers for any details regarding lengthy non-operational periods and contact your manufacturer for advice
Contacting your third-party independent inspection body for advice
Review/complete missed planned preventative maintenance checks
Complete additional test runs of attractions before recommencing operation
Deep clean of all attractions
Check all your attractions DOC’s are still valid and in date before opening

If DOC’s have expired than work with your independent inspection body to put a plan together to have the attraction inspected and DOC issued
DO NOT operate an attraction that does not have a valid DOC

PREPARING FOR VISITORS / DURING VISITS TO ATTRACTIONS

Guest Communications

Guest communications and guest behaviours will play a large part in the relaunch of our attractions. Communication throughout the entire guest journey will assist with the day to day operation and compliance with potential new attraction rules and guidance.

This is going to take a lot of planning, managing, and auditing daily with constant review of behaviour within facilities.

Manging the guest’s expectations before booking will reduce complaints.

Updated website giving guests pre-visit information on what the attraction has in place to control risks; promote your site as a contactless payment preferred venue and use social media to demonstrate the work and control measures that have been put in place by the attractions.
Information about guests not attending your attraction if they are feeling ill and what a guest should do if they start to feel ill whilst on site.
At every point of the customers journey Information should be highlighted about not attending your facility if they are feeling ill, are showing signs of the virus or live in the same household as someone with the virus.
Display information about what a guest should do if they start to feel ill whilst on site – and a protocol put in place, where customers are taken to an area to minimise contact with staff and others guests, whilst assistance is sought.
- Best practise is a well-ventilated room at the front of the building, but only if the guest isn’t well enough to travel home or to the hospital
Signage around the attraction about social distancing and hygiene stations highlighting the increased cleaning schedules in place and this may involve some areas being closed off periodically to fully sanitise the tables and play kit. Utilise public safety announcements and digital screens to repeat practices being applied throughout the facility.
Information displayed at main entrance points/reception areas about social distancing protocols in place in the facility. Signage at hygiene stations, which may include hand sanitising products or traditional soap and water facilities along with directional signage around the facility to the nearest locations. Signage in toilets and washroom about how to clean your hands correctly – use child friendly signage as well as messages for adults.
Information that some attractions may close during the day for cleaning

Social Distancing

It is likely that when operators can re-open that this will be on a reduced capacity to enable some form of social distancing whilst within our businesses. This is going to take a lot of planning, managing and auditing daily.

It is unknown currently how reduced capacity would be calculated, is it “X” amount of people per square metre, will it be your attractions max capacity halved? Either way we should be prepared for what may come and how we can demonstrate that we have systems in place to accommodate the change in our operation.

Hygiene screens to be used in areas such as retail till areas, receptions and guest services. Removal of some attraction furnishings or the spreading out of attraction furnishings such as benches and picnic tables.
Mark on the floor in queue lines showing social distancing points or physically modify queue lines.
Information throughout the facility about how to maintain social distancing while using the play equipment. Use of floor markings in any areas where traffic can be high to help guests respect social distancing.
Avoid gathering guests in areas for items such as character shows, attraction events such as concerts or end of day parades
Assess what areas of your business will be more complicated to open due to the potential social distancing requirements.
- These could include sit in restaurants, 4D Cinemas, batch operated attractions such as walk throughs, soft play areas and outdoor play equipment.
- Carefully assess how you can comply with the social distancing in these types of areas, it may not always be possible and some areas of your attractions may have to initially remain closed.
- Assess if rides cannot be run at full capacity due to fixed distancing, one family in a gondola, spaces between seats if guests are riding from different groups.
- Assess restaurant capacities and control measures to comply with social distancing
Make your venue a pre-bookable experience only to assist in capacity management, try to encourage guests to print out tickets at home or use technology for guests to gain entry to our attractions. Start with a manageable capacity to monitor if your new procedures are affective and then increase as appropriate.
The utilization of fixed capacity, timed play sessions, and pre booking are tools that can be used to achieve this and avoid traditional impulsive visits, queues at the entrances of our facilities and failure of social distancing.
Think about your staff, split morning briefs into smaller groups, look at issuing briefs using notice boards or technology, if staff have been working from home then maybe look at some workers continuing to do so or where possible, management to continue to use technology such as skype/myteams to hold meetings. Refrain from having staff socials for the foreseeable future
Close your park, pier entrances to make it pay to enter rather than free to enter or apply a one in one out policy.
Leave additional spaces when parking cars

Hygiene

Although our attractions already have high standards of hygiene there will be a more focused attention on this from our guests and staff. Additional cleaning throughout the day and extra procedures may need to be put in place during the initial re-opening period.

For Staff (in house)

Staff to be trained about COVID 19 and additional breaks for staff to ensure that they can wash hands
Hand clocking in machines not to be used and data input manually, or timesheets move to a supervisor submission
Ensure that the relevant training and COSHH information is available if new chemicals are being used for disinfecting areas or equipment
People cash handling and cash offices will need suitable PPE and cleaning programs
Consider staff workstations, office layouts, contractors or business visitors. Social distancing is not just for the public. It is critical we keep our staff safe
Ensure where chemicals are used in areas of staff and guest contact that these chemicals are touch safe
A more detailed clean of areas that have mass contact each morning such as tills, ride containment systems, cash machines, lockers, scanners, counters or shared equipment such as radios and phones
Closure/suspension of an attraction/kiosk/guest services during the day for a clean down
Onsite first aid centres should have a quarantine area and clean down processes
Unmanned staff rooms should have a cleaning program in place
If continuing to use character costumes, then ensure that they are cleaned before each use especially if being used by multiple staff

Front of house

Consider temperature checks to be completed on guests and staff entry to the attraction; particularly those which will require children to be checked with parents’ permission

Encourage contactless payment at all points
Hygiene stations placed around the attraction on a risk assessment basis; Sensor based soap dispensers, taps and hand dryers where possible and open bin styles or kick lids
Dependent on guidance, masks and or gloves may be needed to be worn by all or some guests/staff. Ensure all PPE is always adequately stocked for expected visitor numbers and staff
Smoking areas to be made larger or closed
Merchandise:
- Clothing in retail outlets should not be tried on and returned to the rail
- Pick and mix should be pre bagged
Think carefully about cleaning equipment on games such as hook a duck, hoopla, basketball games, throw the ball in the bucket, ideally between each game
Risk assess arcades that have lots of human touch areas such as plastic guns, fruit machines, grab toy machines etc. If remaining open then ensure social distancing, increased cleaning of machine buttons and other touch points
If offering animal handling experiences, considerations to be made about not offering these types of experiences until further guidance is available

What you need to do now…

Complete a Risk Assessment for your business
Produce a plan of action to implement the Risk Assessment
Look at the customer journey and make necessary amendments
Contact all staff and begin training – Online COVID-19 Secure Gov Training is available
Source suppliers and purchase PPE and other equipment (such as screens, hand sanitiser, masks, disinfectant wipes, disposable aprons and gloves, signage, hazard tape and condiment sachets)