A behind-the-scenes look at the strict health & safety standards crews are working to
During COVID-19, our crews and staff are working to strict health & safety standards to stop the spread and to avoid putting themselves or any members of the public at risk. Health, safety and wellbeing is always at the forefront of everything we do at Treescape – and we’ve just increased our focus on this during these strange times.
Firstly, Treescape share daily updates with all staff, providing our teams with the latest information and reminding everyone about health & safety measures frequently.
Bubble Working & Physical Distance
In line with the government’s strategy around personal/household bubbles, all Treescape crews are working under a bubble approach. This means some workers are required to work in sets of 2 or 3 – this is their work bubble and they do not break out of these bubbles. In addition, 2 metres physical distance to each other is a must. Usually, we have 3 crew members side-by-side in a truck. To allow for physical distance, we have reduced this to only 2 per vehicle.
For our full bubble working guidelines and examples of what to do and what not to do, click here.
We also encourage our staff to remind members of the public to respect their work bubbles and remain 2m away from all staff.
Hygiene Measures
We instruct our staff to follow the below hygiene guidelines as advised by the Ministry of Health:
- cough or sneeze into your elbow or by covering your mouth and nose with tissues
- put used tissues in the bin or a bag immediately
- wash your hands with soap and water often (for at least 20 seconds)
- avoid close contact with people who are unwell
- don’t touch your eyes, nose or mouth if your hands are not clean
- clean surfaces regularly such as touch screens, petrol pumps, EFTPOS machines, steering wheels, gear sticks and other common surfaces
For our crews to be able to wash their hands with soap and water often, we have installed water tanks and soap containers on each truck.
In addition, we provide detail around how to wash their hands:
PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)
Treescape already has strict PPE requirements in place, for any type of work we do. All of our staff must continue to use all of the PPE that we would use during a standard workday, exactly as we have before the lockdown.
According to the Ministry of Health, face masks aren’t necessary outside of a health setting. However, staff who have their own supply and choose to wear them aren’t prevented from doing so.
Mental Health
Our staff’s emotional and mental wellbeing is important. We are regularly communicating to our team that it is normal to feel stressed, anxious or lonely when self-isolating, but there are some things within our control we can do to feel better. We have shared some great information from the government on this.
In addition, Treescape already have confidential counselling and support in place available to all members of staff.