Reopening Accommodation

 

This page gives guidance on how to reopen and adapt accommodation to work safely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In line with wider government advice, you should make sure that the risk assessment for your business addresses the risks of COVID-19. You should use the government social distancing guidance to inform your decisions and control measures.

 

Tools and resources to help you manage your Safety Systems

A range of Posters and Signs are available to download at the bottom of this page.

Products for accomodation surfaces and environment can be found by following this link or by downloading the Optimum Foodservice & Hospitality brochure in the Downloads / Brochures section of this website.

Best Practice, Q&A and Cleaning Methods are available in the Optimum Cleaning System brochure in the Downloads / Brochures section of this website.

 

General Precautions

• Stay at home if you are sick to avoid spreading illness to others.
• Practice good hand hygiene at all times.
  • Frequent hand washing remains the best way to control COVID-19 transmission and the foodservice & hospitality sector already have excellent washroom areas to facilitate this. A video on hand washing can be accessed via our website.
  • Where hand washing is not possible, or as an adjunct to hand wash, frequent use of hand gels/rubs should be established.  
• Cough into your elbow or cover your mouth and nose with a disposable tissue when you sneeze.  Immediately dispose of all used tissues in an appropriate waste bin and wash your hands right away.
• Maintain a physical distance of two metres from others at all times.
• Do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands.
• Do not share food, drinks, utensils, cigarettes or vaping devices.

 

Further Precautions

• Display signs in your facility to encourage hand hygiene among all staff and guests. 
• Display signs in your facility promoting physical distancing.
• Encourage staff to avoid touching personal items of guests, such as luggage.
• Install physical barriers (e.g., perspex sneeze guards) in locations such as reception desks.
• Install markers on the floor (2 metres apart) to support physical distancing in locations such as reception desks.
• Wherever possible, provide guests with single-use personal items (e.g., soaps, shampoos, sugar packets, creamers).
• Staff should wear clean clothing that is specific to and only worn while on the job.  
• Staff should change into a separate set of street clothes before leaving work.   Work clothing should be placed in a bag and laundered after each shift.   

 

Environmental Cleaning

• Regular cleaning of all common areas, guest rooms and work rooms is essential to protect the health and safety of guests and staff from COVID-19. General Cleaning Measures:
• Train staff on routine cleaning and disinfection procedures for high touch surfaces, as well as appropriate laundry and linen handling procedures.
• Ensure daily cleaning and disinfection of all common areas and surfaces. 
• Ensure high touch surfaces (Touch Points) are cleaned at least twice daily.  This includes door handles/push plates, telephones, elevator panels and buttons, light switches, tables, chairs and work surfaces in staff rooms, desktops, washrooms, point of sale devices and menus. 
• Clean visibly dirty surfaces before disinfecting. Cleaning refers to the removal of visible dirt, grime and impurities.  Cleaning does not kill germs but helps remove them from the surface.  
• Use clean cloths or paper wipes with detergent disinfectant sprays or alternatively impregnated wipes to clean and disinfect surfaces. Use a disinfectant or detergent disinfectant that has proven efficacy against EN14476. 
• Floors and walls should be kept visibly clean.
• Empty and clean waste bins in public areas regularly.
• Items that cannot be easily cleaned and disinfected should be removed (e.g. toys, sculptures).

 

Housekeeping During a Guest’s Stay

• Housekeeping staff must practice good hand hygiene at all times during their shift.
• Do NOT provide housekeeping service within guest rooms during their stay.
• Ensure that an adequate supply of clean towels, toilet paper, plain hand soap and shampoo is available prior to guests entering their room. 
• Leave fresh linens, toiletries and cleaning supplies outside the door of guest rooms.  Provide these items at a frequency that maintains good hygiene. 
• Provide a linen or plastic bag for the guest to place their dirty linens in, and a plastic bag for their other waste.
  • Advise guests to tie laundry and waste bags shut and leave them outside their door for collection.
  • To minimise the amount of time dirty linen and waste is sitting in hallways, advise guests on a time at which items should be put out for collection.  

 

Housekeeping After a Guest’s Stay

• All guest rooms must be fully cleaned and disinfected after every use.  
• Ensure staff do NOT enter guest rooms until authorised. 
• To allow for adequate air exchange within rooms, staff should wait three 3 hours after a guest has left the room before entering for housekeeping.
• Cleaners must practice good hand hygiene before entering and after leaving each guest room. 
  • If gloves are used, ensure a new pair is used for each guest room.  
  • Proper hand hygiene must be performed after removing gloves.  
• Staff should use the standard Personal Protective Equipment (e.g., eye protection, mask) required for the regular hazards encountered through their normal course of work (e.g., handling chemicals).
• Review all work procedures to minimise all opportunities for staff contact with splashes and spraying. 
• Empty all waste bins.
• Discard all items left in the room by guests.  
• Discard all single-use items and remnants, even if they seem unused or untouched.  This includes, but is not limited to, toilet paper, soap, shampoo, toothpaste and sugar packets.
• Remove all reusable glassware and dishes from the room, including all dishes that appear untouched or unused.  Take all items directly to the kitchen area for dishwashing. 
• Use clean cloths or paper wipes with detergent disinfectant sprays or alternatively impregnated wipes to clean and disinfect surfaces. Use a disinfectant or detergent disinfectant that has proven efficacy against EN14476.  
• Complete a thorough cleaning and disinfection of all hard surfaces.  Special attention should be given to frequently touched items such as toilets, sinks, washhand basins, doorknobs, light switches, telephones, remote controls, bar fridges and waste bins.
• Remove all cloth items (e.g., sheets and towels).  Take all dirty linens and towels directly to the laundry.
• For carpets: Only use vacuum cleaners equipped with exhaust filters , preferably HEPA filters, for carpeted areas.  If your vacuum does not have an exhaust filter, do not vacuum the room.   

 

Waste Management 

• Wherever possible, waste should be handled by a designated person or small, designated team.
• Staff should wear disposable gloves to remove waste from guest rooms and common areas.
• Ensure staff remove gloves and perform hand hygiene immediately after handling and disposing of waste.
• A single, sturdy, leak-resistant waste bag is sufficient for containing waste.  
• All waste bags should be securely closed and immediately placed in the main disposal bin for the facility.

 

Laundry

• Wear disposable gloves when handling dirty laundry and discard after each use.  Wash hands immediately after gloves are removed. 
• If reusable gloves are worn, gloves should be dedicated for handling dirty laundry and should not be used for other purposes.  Wash hands immediately after gloves are removed.
• Do not shake dirty laundry.  This minimises the possibility of dispersing the virus through the air.
• Place dirty laundry directly into a linen bag without sorting.  Do not overfill bags.
• Clearly mark laundry bins as 'clean' or 'dirty'.  Ensure dirty laundry only contacts dirty laundry bins, and clean laundry only contacts clean laundry bins.
• Clean and disinfect clothes according to manufacturer's guidance.  Consider using a liner that can be laundered.
• Clean and disinfect the front loading area of washing machines frequently.
• Wash and dry items in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.  Use the warmest possible water settings.  Dry all items thoroughly.

 

General Food Service Precautions

• Follow safe food practices, such as protecting foods from contamination, minimising direct handling of food and preventing cross-contamination of foods. 
• Discard any foods that may have been contaminated from coughs or sneezes. 
• Increase frequency of cleaning and disinfecting of food contact surfaces and high-touch areas.
• Use the dishwasher or glasswasher for crockery cutlery and glassware wherever possible.
• Do not provide common water dispensers or lobby snacks for guests. 
• Encourage guest and staff hand hygiene before all meals. 
• Regularly clean and disinfect equipment used for handling payments.

 

Delivering and Picking Up Food Trays

• Do not provide food service within guest or staff rooms during their stay.  For in-house food service and food delivery from off-site, deliver and pick up food trays outside of guest rooms, while the room doors are kept shut. 
• Proper hand hygiene must be practiced before delivering and after picking up food trays. 
• Regularly clean and disinfect food trolleys used for transporting food and picking up dirty dishes.  

 

Dishwashing

• Dishwasher operation including wash and  rinse temperatures should be monitored.
• Used dishware should be washed immediately.
• Disposable dishes are not required to stop COVID-19.  Regular food trays, dishes and utensils can be used for guests. 
• Manually scrape off food from plates prior to beginning dishwashing.  Minimise the use of sprayers to remove food and residue. 
• Maintain separation between clean and dirty dishes in the dish washing area.

 

Staff Health 

• Advise staff to monitor their symptoms daily, report respiratory illness and not to return to work for at least 7 days following the onset of fever, chills, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat and painful swallowing, stuffy or runny nose, loss of sense of smell, headache, muscle aches, fatigue and loss of appetite. 
• Advise staff to use the COVID-19 self-assessment tools on NHS websites.
• If an employee reports they are suspected or confirmed to have COVID-19 and have been at the workplace, clean and disinfect all areas where that person has worked. 
• All staff must practice physical distancing to reduce the risk of getting sick. Avoid close contact (within 2 meters) when possible with other staff and guests.  This includes employee breaks.