Safety measures

We are still shielding and here in Scotland nothing has changed but it will soon and garden centres are on the list.
Our nearest garden centre was very prompt in setting up a home delivery service and they have a click and collect. It isn't cheap but it's lovely to go on a virtual tour and have all you want delivered to your door.

It took the hospital weeks before I felt safe going there. At first nurses were chatting to each other in doorways, no sign of extra sanitisers or many distancing measures.

However a couple of months later and we have received a letter telling us how it will be when we go for a scan. At last they are catching up.

I went to our local garden centre about a week ago. People seemed to be coping and distancing. They were keeping the trollies clean and only let one in as one came out.

However. I saw a woman trying on gardening gloves??.
I sort of know her so said in a pseudo jolly voice”Well you will have to buy all of those now!” She just said a jolly hello back
She had no idea what she was doing.??‍♀️

You can’t legislate for people can you.

I think that they’ve lost all authority. DH and myself have decided to what we think is sensible in future and not listen to a single thing the idiot of a government says in future.

We went into lockdown before the government said as we didn’t even then trust their judgement and this latest debacle of lies and twists and turns has meant our trust is now rock bottom.

I am sure the garden centre assumed that by now their customers would all know the rules about social distancing.

It’s not always necessary to have strict instructions in place at this stage when we have had it drummed into us for months.

We were out for a walk along by the Thames on Saturday and came across an ice cream van.
Several people started queuing and everyone without exception kept a good distance from the person in front.

Nice try, @anitafox.
I think you'll find at the moment that most gransnetters have speech writing off to an art form.

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Pumpkinpie, I don't think shopping has to just be for essential items now since lockdown eased last week. The Gvt decided garden centres could reopen so obviously people will want to go.

I went to B&Q today, my first non essential shop, I needed a new battery for mr smoke detector and thought I'd go there rather than a local shop so I could get some compost and bedding plants.

I'm not sure though that I will go again for a while! While the store has excellent distancing measures, not everyone was following them. I lost count of the number of people, mainly elderly couples, who wandered around aimlessly, touching things without buying them, getting too close to me rather than wait patiently for me to move on, ignoring directional signs or reaching past me to reach something!

I gave up after a while and did not bother getting everything on my list. The staff there did their best and I would have felt safe had everyone acted more considerately.

I don't know when I will feel safe to go shopping again.

Why is visiting a garden centre essential?

Apologies, my above post was meant to assist a forum member on an alternative thread and posted wrongly on this one.

However, hope it helps on this thread also, now it's on here. ??

Curlygirl, in regard to your opening post, despite the present crisis and the emergency regulations that surround that situation employers must still comply with all that is laid down under the Health & Safety At Work Act 1974 (HASAWA) especially at present in regard to Covid-19.

The above act states that an employer must carry out "ALL THAT IS REASONABLY AND PRACTICALLY POSSIBLE" to provide a safe working environment for employees throughout all their working duties.

Therefore employers should add an assessment for Covid-19 to the existing risk assessments and risk reduction measures that should be in place for all other regular operations that are carried out by employees in any workplace.

Although many have probably never heard of it, Section 44 Employment Rights Act 1996 could be considered the cornerstone of the UK’s Health & Safety at Work legislation.

Section 44. provides employees with the means to contest the adequacy and/or suitability of safety arrangements without fear of recriminations (e.g. getting sacked or transferred) or suffering detriment (e.g. loss of wages).

That section also provides employees with the ‘right’ to withdraw from and to refuse to return to a workplace that is unsafe. Employees are entitled to remain away from the workplace (e.g. stay at home) if in their opinion the prevailing circumstances represent a real risk of serious and imminent danger which they could not be expected to avert.

Section 44. entitles employees to claim for ‘Constructive Dismissal’ and (unlimited) compensation in the event that an employer fails to maintain safe working conditions. The foregoing means employees don’t have to wait until they (or someone else) suffer injury or illness before they can take action to get suitably safe working conditions.

Section 44. leaves employees with no excuse whatsoever for tolerating unsafe working conditions and acts as a deterrent against an employer either deliberately or carelessly devoting inadequate resources to the protection of safety in their workplace.

Therefore Curlygirl, I would suggest that you place a formal grievance hearing application before your employer citing what you feel are the unsatisfactory safely standards in regard to Covid-19. In that application, you could also state that you will not be attending your workplace under section 44 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 until safety standards in regard to Coronavirus are improved or it is proven to you that existing safety standards are "as far as practically possible" adequate.

If you are a member of a trade union Curlygirl, I would inform them of your concerns as they will send a representative to accompany you to the grievance hearing.

Hope the above helps

Unfortunately they'll have to make it compulsory otherwise not everybody will comply.

Some people will never abide by the rules, no matter what you government does. It’s up to each of us to take responsibility.

This is the trouble with do-called ‘common sense’, though. It only exists in the mind of the holder, and the definition varies from person to person. It is a ludicrous basis in which to base potentially life or death advice.

if its just guidance I dont think they need to comply ,if Bojo actually makes it illegal to open without taking specific measures then you have a complaint that can be addressed

We're certainly not going back there but very annoyed that they have opened without taking enough safety measures and feel something should be done about businesses like this. Trouble is the Government is only making recommendations about safety so there is no way of enforcing it. Surely local council Health and Safety departments should be making spot checks.

.

Vote with your feet and go elsewhere.

I personally wouldn’t visit any where like this. It’s an unnecessary risk. There’s lots of different opinions over what we can and can’t do, and it boils down to being careful and using our common sense.