Covid-19 Guidance for shops, branches, and close contact services

1. Complete a health and safety risk assessment that includes the risk from COVID-19

Complete a risk assessment, considering the measures set out in this guidance. Also consider reasonable adjustments needed for staff and customers with disabilities. Share it with all your staff. Keep it updated. Find out how to do a risk assessment.

2. Provide adequate ventilation

You should make sure there is an adequate supply of fresh air to indoor spaces where there are people present. This can be natural ventilation through opening windows, doors and vents, mechanical ventilation using fans and ducts, or a combination of both.

In particular, you should identify any poorly ventilated spaces in your premises that are usually occupied and take steps to improve fresh air flow in these areas. In some places, a CO2 monitor can help identify if the space is poorly ventilated. Read the advice on air conditioning and ventilation on the HSE website.

3. Remind your staff and customers to wear a face covering in indoor spaces where required by law

Customers are required by law to wear face coverings in all shops, including premises providing close contact services. Staff must also wear face coverings in areas where they are likely to come into contact with members of the public. You must notify your customers that they are required to wear a face covering, for example by using signs. However, you are not responsible for enforcing face covering requirements.

4. Clean more often

It’s especially important to clean surfaces that people touch a lot. You should ask your staff and your customers to use hand sanitiser and to clean their hands frequently.

5. Turn away people with COVID-19 symptoms

Staff members or customers should self-isolate immediately if they show any symptoms of COVID-19 and book a PCR test as soon as possible, even if they are fully vaccinated. If they receive a positive COVID-19 test result, they must complete their full self-isolation period.

They must also self-isolate if they have been informed by NHS Test and Trace that they are a contact of a person who has had a positive test result for COVID-19 – unless they’re exempt. If you know that a worker is self-isolating, you must not allow them to come to work. It’s an offence to do this. Find out more about who should self-isolate.