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Covid and Work, Covid Advice and General Chat

Hi Nicola, I can see that you are very anxious to get your teenagers back to school and fearful that this may not happen. This is fine just as it is fine for others to be concerned about their own health and risks of death.
bulkbiker said:
Well of course they wouldn't as that would be stupid.. however there are very few 70+ y.o. teachers still active so there shouldn't really be a problem...
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There are however plenty of 50 , 60 , BAME, those with diabetes, autoimmune difficulties, heart conditions , respiratory issues and many others that caused them to be in the vunerable or shielding group. I don't understand how it can be acceptable to expect them to just put their health and life's at risk without some protection.
I'm not sure what the point you were wishing to make was from the guardian article. It basically states the younger you are the less likely you are to get seriously ill from Covid and makes a statement that it's better to open schools than close them for the sake of the children.
That's fine but then you also need to protect the staff taking the risks to keep them open imho.
 
If child is 11 or younger then they are exempt
 
and also protect the parents, grandparents and all others who come in contact with the children.

I think maybe the ones making the rules think only about boarding schools, and dont take into account the many people even one day school child comes into contact with to spread the virus.
 
Let's just say for argument sake that children didn't spread the virus. The transmission risk between staff seems to have been totally forgotten. At our school you have a minimum of a teacher and an LSA in a class. We also have morning briefings with all staff in the small lunch hall although I don't know how they will be dealt with come September. Adult to adult infection will be a risk on its own.
 
To be fair that can be moderated fairly easily, no different to many other work places in that respect. The adults in a class should be able to maintain distancing. The meeting it can take place in the largest hall perhaps or be done online, via briefing sheets etc
 
Unless they work in a violent inner city school, teachers are not normally exposed to much risk apart from tripping over some PE kit or burning their fingers on a bunsen burner. When deciding whether to return to school because they might catch the virus they might want to consider parents who are police officers, fire brigade, prison staff, miners, trawlermen, workers on building sites and many more who face risks every day at work but carry on.
 
KK123 said:
Well Boris has children galore (ahem) but he's doing the same so I think that's a little unfair.
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They are all well above school age and are either at or have graduated from university apart from the one he refused to acknowledge for most of her life and he has very little to do with so I do not think it unfair at all.

Oh yes and not to forget the youngest child who is I think not of school age as of yet.
 
And I might add, who can’t work from home and don't have the means for childcare if their children don’t go back school.
 

Why? they all knew the risks involved with their chosen line of work as did I when I joined the military and please don't dismiss the number of assaults on teachers in the work place being a teacher is not usually considered a high risk occupation in the normal course of events.
 
Tannith said:
The children of UK key workers never stopped going to school. The schools stayed open specially for them, specifically to solve the problem of childcare for key workers. What country do you live in?
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All childcare was closed in the province I live for at least 6 weeks. We did a total shut down for three months.
Even outdoor playgrounds and restaurants. Everyone is going back to school wearing masks in three weeks.
Everyone gets two free reusable masks.
Will be interesting to see how effective this will be. Masks need to changedif they are damp, so every few hours and not touched while wearing.
All Persons over two years must wear them indoors here. We have a low rate of infection, but the numbers haven’t gone down anymore for the last two weeks since it has been law.
There is some speculation it’s because people feel safe and now are not social distancing and gathering in groups because they think wearing a mask is all that’s needed Also most don’t wash or change their masks enough.
 

All work places and all the vunerable and extremely vunerable should have their safety and welfare risk assessed for Covid 19.
Where do you work Mr Pots? And what protocols are in place there?



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In the UK adults in schools are I believe not allowed to protect themselves and others by wearing masks at work.


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Hotpepper20000 said:
And I might add, who can’t work from home and don't have the means for childcare if their children don’t go back school.
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Schools remained open throughout the height of the pandemic for the children of key workers and those considered vunerable.
For those saying teachers don't normally face danger what has that got to do with anything . Most people who go to work shouldn't expect to die or end up in hospital because it or is this just a way to bash teachers ?
Teachers are just as likely as anyone else to have underlying conditions such as diabetes, they're just as likely as others to have high hbac1s , be asthmatic , be pregnant, have heart and blood pressure conditions and just as likely as anyone else to end up on ventilators if infected with Covid. Or due we feel they need punishing in some way with loose risk assessment because their jobs are in our opinions not dangerous enough at other times.
As I have said all work places should have safe protocols in place especially for the vunerable or allow them to work from home.
 
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Well I have my own views on the validity of all of these measures in any setting, but they're not particularly relevant here since the majority will disagree and I don't wish to debate them. My point was only that general lockdown skeptics are viewed in the main as whackjob conspiracy nuts who are fools for thinking that government might not always have the best interests of its citizens at heart. In large part by those who are now accusing government of a coverup.

Again, not pointing the finger at anyone here necessarily. It's just an observation.
 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53826719
'I'm very anxious about getting back to work'
"The government position is that no employer should force their staff to return to an unsafe workplace, and they should ensure that vulnerable workers can return safely."
So they are the employers in schools and have a duty to make them safe.


 
A well-known boarding school close to where I live has adapted a whole, fairly large, building for use as a Covid space as a precaution for when the pupils return.
 

You are lucky to have been asked. I read our whole school risk assessment and was surprised to see my risk (I was not named but I know it was me by the job description) was classed as low risk. I contacted my head and pointed out what my risk was ‘not any higher for risk of infection but a higher risk of severe illness if I catch the virus’ and was told I am low risk. My union has said there is no need for an individual risk assessment unless you are an extremely vulnerable person (cancer patient, organ transplant patient etc).
My head said she was aware of my concerns and she has put in place social distancing(?), staggered start and finish times, bubble groups (31+adults and pupils). To date, since wider opening, prior to summer holidays, with up to 15 pupils in a class we have had no covid outbreaks. I think a lot of faith is being put in the rumour that children do not spread the virus. Without face coverings I am unsure that any of the above measures will be effective.
With regard to your circumstance, how about increased ventilation eg open windows or doors.
 

Not sure that is a great comparison. As others have said when you sign up to any of those occupations there are known risks within the job. If you add Covid to the risks then I am sure employees in those occupations would be requesting certain assurances themselves and we are all aware of the NHS's own fight for PPE.

Examples of comparisons with regard to friends or family of mine are interesting - My brother in law works in a petrol station. He says he has seen thousands of people since he went back to work but freely admits that customers aren't in the shop long. Half of all customers wear masks even though they are mandatory and half don't. Staff have been told to keep a list of how many do and how many don't. He says they have a Perspex screen around the counter and have been provided with PPE if they want it.

My best friend works as a Manager in a Hire Shop. If anyone enters his office for a meeting they stay metres away. He has social distancing markers throughout and he has already had to have a word with a member of staff who got too close to a customer. He has an underlying condition so now works two days from home. They are all offered PPE.

Another friend works for a company that has reduced shift numbers to only three in a team rather than the usual number. They now work three days on, three days off in their small teams and they don't get close to each other. They are all offered PPE.

Someone else works for a company in an office and he has been told to work from home until the new year at the earliest.

My ex works as a receptionist in a hospital and is behind a Perspex screen and also wears a mask. Shift times have been shortened.

All of the above either use PPE or it is offered. They all either work from home or stringently social distance within the workplace.. When I go back to school I will not be offered PPE and it is impossible to social distance. The other big difference is that in the above contact with customers or patients are either behind Perspex screens and time spent in any vicinity with someone else will be short. Not the case in a school!
 
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