Sitemark Shares Coronavirus Workplace Risk Assessment Tool To Help FMs

• Content
• Security, Fire & Contingency Planning
• Sitemark Shares Coronavirus Workplace Risk Assessment Tool To Help FMs

16 March 2020

Sitemark, the independent benchmarking service for the facilities management industry, has today released an FM workplace risk assessment tool in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The risk assessment tool helps FMs identify the control measures to consider to minimise the risk of workplace infections. Originally produced for Sitemark clients, the company has decided to distribute the tool to all businesses considering the serious nature of the outbreak.

The assessment will vary from business to business and it is intended to be used alongside existing risk assessment policies and government guidelines.

FMs play “a crucial role”

As the guide states, facilities managers play a crucial role in keeping building users safe in the built environment and supporting organisations to function at maximum efficiency. These are unprecedented times and the potential scale and duration of disruption is currently unknown. 

“We felt obligated to share this assessment tool far and wide in the FM industry considering the severity of the coronavirus outbreak. We hope that through frequent assessment of key control measures, organisations across the country will be able to minimise the impact of the outbreak, and most importantly ensure their employees and customers stay healthy.”

–Mike Boxall

Managing Director, Sitemark

Consequently, it is imperative that FMs are able to highlight and implement the robust controls needed to protect the health of building users and to minimise the financial impact of a COVID-19 outbreak.

Sitemark has identified five areas to be assessed for control measures:

• Site Control – access points, visitor restrictions and visitor hygiene, non-touch dispensers and door mechanisms
• Cleaning Provision – specification frequency, schedule definitions, service provider contingency, chemical use, curtains / blinds, and rugs / mats, swab testing and steam cleaning
• Signage & Education – handwashing signage, handwashing videos and update alerts
• Building User Behaviours – home working, dress code, travel reduction, handshaking, workspace hygiene and self-isolation
• Contingency Plans – building closure plan, contract clarification, deep clean provider, deep clean methodology and sick pay policy

FMs enter an impact and adoption score for each assessment, then use a calculation in the tool to generate a score that will suggest the overall site risk level. Sitemark’s experience of benchmarking more than 300 service providers across 7,000 sites has given it a unique position from which to advise businesses.

Mike Boxall, managing director at Sitemark, commented: 

"We felt obligated to share this assessment tool far and wide in the FM industry considering the severity of the coronavirus outbreak. We hope that through frequent assessment of key control measures, organisations across the country will be able to minimise the impact of the outbreak, and most importantly ensure their employees and customers stay healthy.”

The risk assessment tool can be downloaded here.

FM community joining forces

Similarly to Sitemark, other companies in the FM sector are offering advice or services for free to help manage the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Crisis communication specialists YUDU Sentinel, is offering ThisWeekinFM readers their Hotline emergency communication system for free for 30 days.

Hotline allows firms to post voice messages to all their audiences using text-to-voice technology. A message is typed into the dashboard and immediately the technology converts the keystrokes into a seamless voice message. 

The system uses multiple phone numbers that are assignable to different groups and features a voicemail service. It also has the capability of sending message updates in the form of a news ticker to a company’s website. Hotline can handle more than a million calls every minute.

Picture: Sitemark, the independent benchmarking service for the facilities management industry, has today released an FM workplace risk assessment tool in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 16 March 2020

Share

Related Articles