Impact of Social Distancing study

Impact of Social Distancing - Knapton Consulting Engineers have produced a report on the impact of different social distancing requirements on licensed premises that was produced for the Licensed Vintners Association. It compares the WTO recommended distancing of 1m with the UK Government’s 2m distancing to show the dramatic difference in the number of customers a property can accommodate under these different regimes.  This severely impacts the business’s ability to generate revenue and therefore, its economic viability. This summary table is particularly important.

This currently means keeping people 2m apart, although the industry lobby is aiming to reduce to reduce this to 1m. This means managing  flows of people.  This could be:

- managing time (e.g. appointments with customers so they don’t all arrive at once) - managing space (e.g. managing queues such as we have all seen at the supermarket)
- informing and reminding people to keep their distance.  

Also, anything that can be done, should be done outside where risks are reduced so perhaps a marquee or gazebo for customer check-in, and of course, contactless payment (so e.g. can customers pay online before the arrive) 

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19
Currently (09/06/2020) you do not need facemasks. The Government guidance is clear in each of their business guides: ‘When managing the risk of COVID-19, additional PPE beyond what you usually wear is not beneficial. This is because COVID-19 is a different type of risk to the risks you normally face in a workplace, and needs to be managed through social distancing, hygiene and fixed teams or partnering, not through the use of PPE. The exception to this is clinical settings, like a hospital …’ however, you will need to take social distancing measures and you will probably  need hand sanitiser, disposable aprons, disposable gloves and bin bags.

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