Safe Inside is a self-certification scheme, you will be asked to tick which mitigations you employ and visitors to the site will see the detail you provide. The rating bands are for guidance and general information about how different mitigations help make a place safer. Note – ALL ratings are positive, most sites will not meet any of the criteria. Requirements are cumulative, so a Good rating requires all the Basic elements as well as the good elements. The scale is a guide not rigid, you may miss one element but be doing other higher rated elements. The aim is just to reward places taking sensible precautions.
Explanatory notes are below the scale. Also see the FAQ page and the Science behind the ratings page.
To register your business simply complete the form here
Basic
- Business has generally ‘returned to normal’
- Windows and/or doors kept open irrespective of weather to allow fresh air to circulate, and/or
- HEPA air purifiers are run all the time in examination / treatment areas and ideally in customer waiting areas
Good
- Business has generally returned to normal
- Staff are prepared to wear a FFP2/3 respirator mask if requested by the customer. The customer may be asked to provide this but the customer must be made to feel welcome in asking for this
- Ideally but not required in addition to the above:
- Signs will tell customers they are welcomed to request masking
- Customers should not have to ask, many feel intimidated. Businesses operating in healthcare or healthcare adjacent spaces should adopt “See a mask – wear a mask”
- Ventilation is prioritised to ensure outside air is circulating
- HEPA air purifiers are run all the time in examination / treatment areas and ideally in customer waiting areas
Outstanding
- Business is genuinely Covid aware and mitigations are implemented with the aim of keeping both staff and customers as protected as possible from Covid infection
- Staff wear FFP2 or 3 respirator masks as a matter of course irrespective of whether a particular customer is masking
- One or more of: a ventilation system delivering a know number of air changes per hour, or HEPA filters running all the time, or FarUV employed to sterilise the air in the space
- All staff are Covid aware and will automatically test if symptomatic. Staff who are unwell stay off work and there is no pressure to return to work when unwell and are not financially penalised in any way
- Staff testing positive for Covid categorically do not return to work until they are consistently (2 days) testing negative, testing daily to monitor this
- Ideally in addition to the above:
- CO2 levels are displayed in customer areas
- Staff test at least weekly irrespective of symtoms
Explanatory notes
- ANY rating is positive! Most organisations will not meet the basic level of safe practice so even just keeping windows open is a big step and massively appreciated.
- Mask means N95 / FFP2 or N99 / FFP3 respirators only, blue paper surgical masks are designed as a barrier to fluid / droplet spread and have negligible impact on aerosolised pathogens such as Covid. Cloth or fabric masks similarly do not make a meaningful difference to transmission. Masking means wearing a respirator properly at all times.
- Covid can linger in the air for hours and is not just spread when dealing directly with a customer / patient. Any barrier solution is not effective, it is critical to actually clean the air in each room all the time
- Hand washing and disinfecting surfaces is good basic hygiene practice that has been in place for a long time and reduces bacterial spread but does not have any meaningful effect in reducing Covid transmission. Both were based on droplet theory which was disproved very early in the pandemic.
- HEPA filters are highly effective at reducing viral load in an inside space but less effective at preventing close contact spread. This is why masking is still critical. While one way masking is effective, if staff do not mask when seeing customers / patients their risk of becoming infected remains high and therefore the risk to other customers also remains higher. If staff mask when seeing all customers then staff infection will be dramatically reduced which then lowers the risk of onward transmission. Other air filter options are equally effective, HEPA is a specific standard and widely used as a placeholder for filters capable of cleaning airborne pathogens.
- CO2 monitors give an indication of the level of fresh air in the space and give customers confidence that clean air is being taken seriously. If external ventilation is not present but air cleaning is in use the CO2 may remain high despite airborne pathogens being removed, CO2 is only a proxy for air quality and really measures effective ventilation.
- Far UV is a very fast acting sterilising / disinfecting technology and as such does not need to be run in empty rooms in the same way the air purification does. It is recognised that the cost of this will be prohibitive for most businesses at this time which is why the option of layered protection exists for the highest Inside Safety rating. Note Far UV is not expensive compared to staff absence and is probably the long term solution to life as normal, but it involves more financial outlay upfront.