Bywaters’ COVID-19 coronavirus statement

Bywaters puts measures in place to try and limit the effect of COVID-19 coronavirus

Bywaters are closely monitoring the official guidance issued by Public Health England and the UK Government in order to operate in line with their recommendations and best practices on the COVID-19 coronavirus. At the time of writing, in line with this guidance, waste collections will continue to operate as usual.

We have implemented a number of precautionary measures across our business to help reduce the spread of the virus. These include:

• Educating staff on infection prevention;
• Emphasising frequent and effective hand-washing;
• Providing all staff with hand sanitizer;
• Cleaning high contact points (such as door handles) more frequently;
• Staff will be working from home wherever possible
• Weekly Health and Safety policy/action reviews; and
• Liaising with local health authorities to develop best practice.

Will work and services be affected?

As per the current official guidance issued by the UK Government and Public Health England, operations and services will continue as normal alongside the increased hygiene and health measures, with a few exceptions. In-person contact between Bywaters and clients – such as meetings, events, audits, etc. – is to be minimised in favour of phone calls, email and video conferencing. At this time we do not anticipate any issues with waste collections.

How do I dispose of waste which may have, or has come into contact with COVID-19?

All waste suspected to have come into contact with COVID-19 is being classified as infectious waste. Infectious waste must be handled and treated in the following ways:

• Waste thought to be infectious or container infectious material should be placed into orange infectious clinical bags, and then sorted in a wheeled container.
• All bins and bags should be UN3291 approved, and tied with an appropriate mechanism (cable tied or swan-necked).
• If orange clinical bags are not available, material should be double- bagged in tied bags and stored separately from other waste.
• All infectious material will be collected by an approved clinical waste provider.

Decontamination and deep cleans of affected facilities and vehicles will follow contact with infectious material. Please get in touch with our Bywaters team should you require disposal of infectious materials.

We will continue to monitor Public Health England and the Government’s guidance, and will get in touch should any future developments affect our services. Thank you for trusting Bywaters as we work to provide safe, professional services during this uncertain time.