Physical distancing and your business: frequently asked questions

To protect your staff, you should remind colleagues and drivers daily to only come into work if they are well and no one in their household is self-isolating.

To protect staff and customers, you should manage entry into the store, only allowing a limited number of people into your store at any given time.

You should put up signage to ask customers with symptoms not to enter the store, and to remind both staff and customers to always keep 2 metres from other people, wherever possible.

You should regularly encourage staff to wash their hands with soap and water as often as possible and for 20 seconds every time.

If feasible, you should also put up plexiglass barriers at all points of regular interaction to further reduce the risk of infection for all parties involved, cleaning the barriers regularly. You should still advise staff to keep 2 metres apart as much as possible.

To protect your staff, you should remind colleagues daily to only come into work if they are well and no one in their household is self-isolating.
 

It is the responsibility of the business to implement reasonable measures to allow physical distancing requirements to be complied with.  Enforcement of the business rules regarding Covid-19 is the responsibility of the Protective Services team within Aberdeen City Council.  
 

It is the responsibility of the business to implement reasonable measures to enable physical distancing to be maintained in relation to the operation of their business.  

If a customer refuses to comply with these measures the business should consider what action it can reasonably take in line in order to comply with the physical distancing requirements.  

It may be appropriate to refuse to serve customers who do not comply with the physical distancing requirements and ask them to leave the premises. 

Where customers are collecting items, they should have staggered collection times. When customers whose orders are ready to enter, they should enter one at a time to collect orders and make payments, maintaining a safe distance.

Where queuing is taking place, you should use queue management systems to maintain a safe distance between customers. 

The customer waiting areas must be controlled, for example by demarcation of 2 metre square boxes. 

Ensure that you exercise frequent thorough cleaning and disinfection of all hand contact points in the waiting area.
 

For retailers or restaurants running a delivery service, you should advise all delivery drivers that no goods or food should be physically handed over to the customer. There should instead be a set drop-off point agreed in advance.

After ringing the doorbell, the driver should maintain a safe distance from the door and oversee the delivery of the goods. The goods should not be left unattended.

You should introduce a way for customers to be able to notify your business that they are in self-isolation or are unwell in advance of the delivery, in which case these guidelines should be very strictly followed. The driver should not enter the customer’s property.

To minimise the risk that a customer does not answer the door, sensible steps such as setting an approximate delivery time and gaining a contact number should be taken.

You should advise drivers to wash their hands using soap and water for 20 seconds as regularly as possible, and drivers should be given hand-sanitiser to be carried at all times and used after each delivery.