04-12-2023
New Food Store in Gainsborough
Lincolnshire Co-op has opened its a food store in Gainsborough today, bringing a range of valued services to the local are...
Read MoreContact Tracing: Records of Staff, Customers and Visitor Logs
Contact Tracing: Records of Staff, Customers and Visitor Logs
This is a message from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
NHS Test and Trace is a key part of the country’s on-going COVID-19 response. If we can rapidly detect people who have recently come into close contact with a new COVID-19 case, we can take swift action to minimise transmission of the virus.
There is a higher risk of transmitting COVID-19 in some sectors. This is because customers and visitors will spend a longer time on these premises than in other surroundings and potentially come into close contact with other people outside of their household. To help us control the virus, these sectors should collect details and maintain records of staff, customers and visitors to their premises, in a way that is manageable for their organisation.
Sectors that this guidance applies to:
– Hospitality, including pubs, bars, restaurants and cafés;
– Tourism and leisure, including hotels, museums, cinemas, zoos and theme parks;
– Close contact services, including hairdressers, barbershops and tailors;
– Facilities provided by local authorities, including town halls and civic centres for events, community centres, libraries and children’s centres; and
– Places of worship, including use for events and other community activities.
We need you to help us manage the risk of easing lockdown measures by logging the staff, customers and other visitors at your premises.
By maintaining records of staff, customers and visitors, and sharing these with NHS Test and Trace when requested, you can help us identify people who may have been exposed to the virus. Containing outbreaks early is crucial to reduce the spread of COVID-19, protect the NHS and social care sector, and save lives. This will help to avoid the reintroduction of lockdown measures and support the country to return to, and maintain, a more normal way of life.
We understand that organisations have lots of new measures to put in place so that they can re-open safely to the public. For many, this includes collecting customers’ and visitors’ personal information for the first time, to support the various contact tracing schemes in the UK.
It doesn’t need to be complicated – there’s no need for you to develop special apps or digital solutions – just choose the process that best suits your business.
Further government guidance will be issued on this topic. If you need more help, ICO is here to answer your questions. Ring ICO on 0303 123 1113.
You can follow the ‘ABCDE’ principle:
Ask for only what’s needed
Be transparent with customers
Carefully store the data
Don’t use it for other purposes
Erase it in line with government guidance
To help you, the DHSC have created a guide, a FAQ doc and a toolkit for business, including messaging to use with consumers, which you can download.
What information do I have to collect?
Staff
– The names of staff who work at the premises.
– A contact phone number for each member of staff.
– The dates and times that staff are at work.
Customers and visitors
– The name of the customer or visitor. If there is more than one person, then you can record the name of the ‘lead member’ of the group and the number of people in the group.
– A contact phone number for each customer or visitor, or for the lead member of a group of people.
– Date of visit and arrival and, where possible, departure time. If a customer will interact with only one member of staff (e.g. a hairdresser), the name of the
– assigned staff member should be recorded alongside the name of the customer
– If you have a large booking, for example, at a restaurant, you only need to collect the name and contact phone number of the lead member of the party.
– Recording both arrival and departure times (or estimated departure times) will help reduce the number of customers or staff needing to be contacted by NHS Test and Trace. We recognise, however, that recording departure times will not always be practicable.
– No additional data should be collected for this purpose.
Other News
24-11-2023
The Lincoln Tea & Coffee Company Win Awards At The Great British Food Awards
The Great British Food Awards celebrate the country's finest home-grown ingredients and artisanal produce, as well as the har...
Read More
