The Risk Assessment
Polar Capital has compiled a comprehensive risk assessment that identifies the risks and outlines the controls that have been put in place to manage and mitigate those risks for the safety of staff, clients and contractors.
COVID-19 is a new illness that affects lungs and airways and is the name of the infectious disease caused by the most recently discovered coronavirus. Symptoms can be mild, moderate, severe or fatal. We believe COVID-19 poses a medium/high risk to the business and have taken significant steps at to address the risks.
Cleaning, Washing and Hygiene
Maintaining high standards of cleanliness and hygiene is essential for preventing the spread of the virus. The following key actions have been taken:
- We have installed handwashing facilities and alcohol hand sanitisers across all our work locations.
- We have provided antibacterial wipes and/or spray for colleagues to use on desk areas.
- We have increased the daytime cleaning schedule to strengthen the cleaning of high touch points and communal areas.
- We use appropriate viricidal cleaning products and regularly check stock levels to ensure we have adequate supplies.
- We regularly communicate the requirement and importance of maintaining high personal hygiene and frequently washing hands, consistent with government guidance, to all colleagues.
Physical Distancing
Maintaining physical distancing is essential for preventing the spread of the virus. The following key actions are in place:
- We have restricted the number of staff members in the office at any one time.
- We have installed a one-way system in the office.
- Office seating plans have been redesigned to ensure physical distancing is in place.
- Steps have been taken to review work schedules including staggered start/finish times, splitting teams, etc where necessary to reduce the number of workers on site at any one time.
- Virtual meetings will be used instead of face-to-face meetings wherever possible until physical distancing guidelines change.
- Numbers are restricted in areas of confined space within the office such as kitchens, toilets, photocopying areas and the stationery room.
- Only those staff member who can commute to work in a physically distanced manner will return to the office initially
- Any visitors to the office are to be directed to comply rigorously with the physical distancing guidelines.
Working From Home
Where our staff are working from home, we have put the following steps in place to support them:
- Specific IT equipment requirements for staff have been identified and equipment purchased as necessary to enable working from home.
- Staff have been allocated an appropriate budget to purchase office furniture for homeworking to ensure working from home can be done in comfort and safety.
- All homeworking staff are required to complete display screen equipment training and home working training.
- Following homeworking risk self-assessments, equipment requirements have been identified and addressed for homeworking staff where necessary.
Staff Mental Health and Wellbeing
Management has promoted mental health and wellbeing awareness to staff during the coronavirus outbreak and will continue to offer whatever support we can, including:
- Promotion of the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to all staff with access to a wide range of support materials including a telephone advice line, counselling sessions, etc.
- Promotion of paid, anonymous therapy sessions to staff members with a company-appointed psychotherapist.
- Monitoring wellbeing of colleagues who are working from home and helping them stay connected to assist their wellbeing.
We hope this document provides the reassurance that at Polar Capital, we are doing everything we can to protect our colleagues during this difficult time. If you need more information, please get in touch.
