Review of on-campus COVID-19 measures for the autumn term
01 September 2021
As we approach the start of the new academic year, and with teaching starting very soon for some programmes, the Major Recovery Team (MRT) has reviewed the health and safety measures that will be in place from 6 September.
With vaccination roll-out progressing for adults across the UK, the MRT is confident that we can ease some of our restrictions. They agreed, however, to retain a range of control measures for at least the duration of the autumn term to keep our community safe while also supporting campus life.
A full outline of MRT’s decisions will be available on the Staff Portal in the coming days as we update the COVID-19 pages, but the main measures are summarised at the end of this email. The national situation remains uncertain as Autumn approaches, and the MRT will continue to respond quickly if there are any national or local developments that require us to rapidly adapt our approach.
What you need to do
Please take time to read through these revised measures and regularly keep an eye on the Staff Portal and your email for updates and new information. In addition, we seek your help in a number of other ways:
- Regular lateral flow testing and self-isolation (in line with updated government guidance) remain critical measures in combatting COVID-19. You should not come to campus and you should get a PCR test if you have any of the main symptoms of COVID-19, no matter how mild, and let your line manager know if you are self-isolating. You can find out more about who should self-isolate and when on the NHS website. We will continue to provide LFT kits on campus until at least the end of September and encourage you to undertake a test twice a week.
- Our colleagues in Health and Safety are updating the UoRLearn campus induction modules for the start of term and we will let you know when these are available. Even if you did the earlier modules, we ask that you review these updated ones when they are published.
- We continue to strongly encourage vaccinations, given their importance to the safety of our whole community. We ask line managers to be flexible in allowing colleagues to access vaccination appointments during normal working hours. We are working with the local authority to provide a temporary vaccination service on campus, for either first or second doses, in the first weeks of term and we will keep you updated. You may be interested in our short video on vaccinations from our very own experts, explaining how the vaccines work and how they can help protect you and those around you.
- If you have an underlying health condition or are pregnant, MRT continues to encourage you to discuss issues with your line manager so that we can be responsive to your needs and arrange local or individual measures as required. PhD supervisors and lead tutors should also be responsive to such issues raised by their students.
- All colleagues are invited to attend an open briefing session on Wednesday 8 September at 14:00, which will offer more details on our plans for the autumn term. An invitation to this session has been sent.
Supporting a flexible transition back to campus life
A strong and vibrant community on campus is integral to our identity as an institution, as well as to student experience, networking and collaboration.
We understand that many colleagues will want to transition back to working on campus in different ways, so our Strategic Foundations Programme ‘Ways of Working’ project has explored what we have learnt from our experience of the pandemic in order to inform our return to campus life. Further information and guidance will be available in the coming days.
We will continue to keep students updated with our plans through regular emails. We will also update our Staff Portal COVID-19 FAQs and student Essentials pages in the coming week, so please check here for the latest information and advice.
Thank you for taking the time to read this email. It is important that we continue support each other and our individual preferences during this transition period and appreciate that returning to work may take some getting used to from a personal and professional perspective. If you have any concerns regarding your return to campus, please speak to your line manager in the first instance.
Kind regards,
Julian & Dominik
Professor Julian Park & Professor Dominik Zaum
Co-Chairs of the Major Recovery Team (MRT)
Measures from 6 September on campus
What measures will remain in place?
Cleaning: Our enhanced cleaning regime will remain in place in all areas on campus. Please help Cleaning Services colleagues by keeping common areas and desks tidy.
Ventilation: In offices and other shared areas with natural ventilation, windows and doors (except fire doors) should continue to be kept open as wide as possible to enable a supply of fresh air. Rooms with mechanical ventilation will remain set at the current levels, and the maximum occupancy for some teaching spaces will still be governed by ventilation capacity. Only rooms that have passed a ventilation check will be used for teaching in the autumn term. If you have questions about ventilation in any areas within your School/Function, please read the updated Safety Note 76 or contact your Head of School/Function and your Health & Safety Co-Ordinator.
One-way systems and signs: One-way systems, physical barriers and associated signs will remain in place in some locations. However, in the event of an emergency evacuation, one-way systems can be disregarded. Disabled colleagues or students and those with mobility challenges can also disregard one-way systems to ensure access as required.
Continued staggered start to teaching sessions: Centrally booked teaching rooms have staggered timetabling and a 15-minute break between sessions.
Hand hygiene: Regular hand washing and sanitising remain effective ways to minimise the risk of virus transmission and continue to be encouraged. Hand sanitiser stations will remain in place.
Lifts: Lift use will continue to be restricted to those with mobility issues, and hand-sanitiser will continue to be available for those using them.
QR codes: Although no longer mandatory, the government is still encouraging the use of QR codes and we will keep these in place and encourage their use.
Eating and drinking: We continue to ask colleagues not to eat and drink in business meetings. If possible, colleagues and students should eat outside if they can.
What measures will change?
Face coverings: In line with government changes, face coverings will no longer be expected. However, we will continue to encourage face coverings to be worn when moving around in indoor spaces and when in close contact with those you do not regularly spend time with. They can be removed when sitting at a desk (for example, in offices, classrooms and the Library) or once seated in our catering outlets.
Social distancing: Consistent with the change in government policy for England, minimum 2 metre social distancing will no longer be the default requirement across all work activities on campus, including in offices, classrooms and the Library.
Timetabling has been undertaken on this basis but subject to the capacity restrictions in some teaching rooms given our ventilation requirements.
Office spaces too no longer need to be managed on the basis of 2 metre distancing. However, local arrangements can be made within teams, Functions or Schools, for example, for reduced occupancy for the rest of the term to accommodate team circumstances. Please speak to your line manager in the first instance if you have any concerns.
Risk assessments: An increased number of practical sessions can take place now that there are no social distancing measures, requiring new Risk Assessments for those sessions to determine what additional safety precautions may be needed. Risk Assessments already in place for existing teaching sessions should be reviewed.
Meetings: Large and/or formal calendared meetings and meetings that are largely transactional or involve cascading of information should be held virtually. Small meetings that involve collaboration or co-creation may be better suited to face-to-face environments, subject to ongoing COVID measures and dynamic risk assessment (including checking room capacity and opening windows). A new meetings generic risk assessment template is now available. Please be sensitive to the concerns of others about meeting in person. Further guidance on meetings is available on the Staff Portal.
Events: All restrictions on events will be lifted, so there will no longer be priority categories of events or caps on number of attendees, but all risk assessments must take account of COVID-19 control measures as appropriate. Where events can be successfully delivered online, this is encouraged.
Updated Health & Safety guidance
75: Working in very low-occupancy buildings during the Coronavirus pandemic
76: COVID-19 risk reduction measures
77: COVID-19 first aid