How can Electricians stay safe out on the job?
Lockdown has been a strange time for us all, including us here at Able Skills trying to provide electrician courses safely. Now that we are slowly but surely approaching normality or this new form of normality it is still important that you do everything you can to ensure the safety of yourself and customers as a working electrician. Those of you who are working in customers’ homes, it is very important that you utilise different safety measures and precautions to limit contact and reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19.
Think about it, the more measures that you, yourself as a trade implement into your daily work will ultimately influence your reputation as a tradesman or women. People will feel more inclined to hire the electrician that is doing their best to ensure the reduction of the spread of this virus. Being safe and implementing measures, in turn, will improve your business in this current climate...
How can Electricians stay safe out on the job?
Firstly, once contacted by a customer seeking electrical services, you'll want to ensure that the household is not self-isolating, showing symptoms or anything like that. As a tradesperson, you will be dealing with a lot of customers each week and therefore coming into contact with a lot of people. You will need to make sure that you do not enter a property with people who are sick, could be sick or could be easily susceptible. If you, yourself at any point, start showing any symptoms of COVID-19, you must self-isolate and cancel any work you have scheduled, this may seem detrimental to your earnings but is crucial at this moment in time, the safety of yourself is not to be taken lightly.
PPE:
Now PPE is a big topic at the moment, previously masks, gloves and hand sanitizer was hard to come by with people panic buying these types of products and additionally, the slowing of international trading. However, it seems these days that these items are much easier to come across and are vital when working in close proximity to people within their homes, the statistics and research do not lie, these revolutionary measures such have masks drastically reduce the chance of speed between individuals and could save your livelihood in the long-run.
Caution:
Again, this may seem obvious but do not be tempted to shake hands with customers. We are all guilty of forgetting this in our daily lives as shaking hands is such a normal thing in our society but this is risky. You should also have caution in terms of the area you are working in, maybe ask your client if you could close off the area that you are working in, to avoid unnecessary contact with the rest of the home. Any and all precautions are taken are beneficial to both you and the customer and the safety of your family and friends. More steps you should take include; At the end of the day, wiping down any equipment used, washing your hands regularly and so on.
Want some more detailed advice?
As of the 3rd of July the government has released a document outlining many different ways that all types of traders can keep safe on the job. This includes electricians like yourself and other traders such as Gas Engineers for example. This document not only outlines how you can be safe on the job within peoples homes but additionally advice for employers, the self-employed and much more. If you own your own business and have employees, as an employer, you also have a legal responsibility to protect workers and others from risk to their health and safety. This means you need to think about the risks they face and do everything reasonably practicable to minimise them, recognising you cannot completely eliminate the risk of COVID-19. Here's a look at this document...
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Seeking additional training?
If you are a working electrician looking to pick up some additional trade skills during this time, you can be sure that here at Able Skills we have and are doing everything we can to ensure a safe environment for students to develop, learn and progress. For example, if you are looking to take on our Level 3 Inspection and Testing course, also known as 2391-52 you can be sure that this course will be taught maintaining social distance measures. In fact, we are even carrying out deep cleans, including fogging the entire centre on a constant basis to make sure we can continue to provide the electrician courses we are proud of!
More information:
For more information about any of these Electrical courses or to find out more about any of the other trades and courses we offer, feel free to give us a call on 01322 280 202. Alternatively, you can email info@ableskills.co.uk Currently, we are providing training 7-days a week after re-opening. Plumbing causes, Bricklaying courses, Gas courses and Electrician courses are back in full-swing in a controlled manner with the rest of the construction trades returning on August 3rd!
We have our own accommodation which is available on a room only basis and is located only 5 minutes from the Training Centre. The Accommodation is owned by Able Skills and will only ever be used by our students; the property also has a large car park so, for any of our visitors who are considering driving to us, vehicles can be left there quite safely during electrician courses or other training.
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