As New Zealand enters Level 2 of the Covid-19 level system, Sustainable Coastlines has prepared this following protocol to dictate how we do the things that we do at Level 2.
The disease is contained, but the risk of community transmission remains.
a) To enhance the wellbeing of our staff, and;
b) To reduce the risk of simultaneous infection this winter, and;
c) To enhance our ability to accurately diagnose and attribute infection, and;
d) To reduce risk to our business activities.
2. If anyone shows any elevated fever or symptoms (a cough or shortness of breath) of acute respiratory illness:
a) Alert your manager(s). Managers should inform LT.
b) Call the Healthline on 0800 358 5453 to enquire if they qualify for official testing.
c) They are then to inform their manager(s) as to the result of this conversation.
d) Any costs for testing or screening (including travel to or from the staff member, intern or volunteers’ place of residence) will be covered by Sustainable Coastlines.
e) It will be communicated to staff that the temperature reading measure also removes any subjectivity from a self-assessment of whether symptoms exist and is a measure designed to keep them as safe as possible.
3. There will be no need for any investigation if a staff member chooses to work from home – they will be allowed to either complete a paid day of work remotely, or take sick leave as a precautionary measure. Specifically, staff will not be required to provide a medical practitioners note (doctors’ certificate) if they elect to either work from home or take an accrued sick leave day.
a) The above measures will also permit employees to flexibly elect to stay home to care for a sick family member, by either working from home or taking an accrued sick leave day, on consultation with their manager.
4. Managers will be asked to consider lining up tasks that can be performed remotely.
5. We are to be supportive of each other through this ongoing situation.
6. There will be no discrimination against anyone who elects to work from home, take sick days or self-isolate.
7. Avoid personal contact, such as kissing, sharing cups or food with sick people.
8. If anyone staff member, intern or volunteer needs to self-isolate, they are to follow the guidelines set out by the Ministry of Health, here.
9. Keep physical distancing to 1 meter, and avoid:
10. We practice cough and sneeze etiquette around the office, Cough or sneeze into your elbow or by covering your mouth and nose with tissues.
11. Don’t touch your eyes, nose or mouth if your hands are not clean.
1. Educational signage to be displayed at The Flagship Education Centre in the office, event space, toilets and store
2. Wash your hands with soap and water often (for at least 20 seconds). At the Flagship — staff are encouraged to use the sink in the kitchen, or the public toilets where soap is available. Hand santiser is to be communicated as a less-effective back-up measure only.
3. We are to clean surfaces regularly. We will double the cleaning contract to two visits per week at The Flagship. They are to be instructed to clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces and objects, such as doorknobs
4. No unwashed dishes or food is to be left out in the Flagship and curtains/barriers are to be placed over crockery shelves in the kitchen.
5. Our toilets are to be locked when not in use to avoid use by the general public.
6. We will purchase cleaning products and wipes and have them placed on the working desks and at the lectern in the event space, so that commonly used surfaces (for example, doorknobs, keyboards, remote controls, desks) can be wiped down by employees before each use.
7. All desks/chairs will be placed at least 1m apart.
8. No more than 6 people in the office at any one time with 1m spacing at all times.
9. No more than 10 people in the event space at any one time with 1m spacing.
10. Flagship store will be open following these guidelines:
a) All orders will be cleaned/sanitised before being sent out
b) Orders will be packed wearing gloves.
c) Returns will be handled with care wearing the correct PPE.
d) Store products and shelves will be cleaned and santised regularly.
e) Social distancing must be adhered to in store.
f) Payment will be made by card only, no cash.
Gatherings of up to 100 people allowed outside while maintaining 2m physical distancing where possible and contact tracing requirements.
We have committed already to clients that we will be fully transparent about our protocol. This protocol will be shared with clients, collaborators and other stakeholders as the Coronavirus journey continues.
a) Cancel or postpone any event, at their sole discretion, including booked and ad hoc events at The Flagship Education Centre, if they are not happy with the level of risk presented, as this situation continues; Any Event Director who elects to cancel or postpone an event must communicate this with stakeholders along with their rationale of risk reduction in a timely manner.
b) Elect to adapt the delivery model for an event, including for example:
An Event Director who wishes to continue with an event will ensure the following is communicated to all event attendees:
a) If they, or anyone they live with feels ill, please do not attend.
b) All attendees should follow cough and sneeze etiquette:
c) Cough or sneeze into your elbow or a tissue (dispose of tissue immediately).
d) Bring gloves to the event if you have them available at home. Although we will have freshly washed gloves for those who need.
e) Wash and sanitise your hands regularly.
f) Social distancing of 2m must be adhered to for those outside your bubble.
g) The event may be cancelled at late notice due to the unfolding situation.
h) Our full Covid-19 Protocol is available on request.
2. Deliveries: Event manager must request a contactless delivery of any deliveries to be left on site
3. All equipment must be prepared by staff wearing protective gloves and all equipment must be sanitised/washed, all vehicles must have sanitser wipes available to wipe down handles and steering wheels.
4. Extra hand sanitiser and soap must be ordered and available prior to the event.
5. An extra staff member/volunteer must be available to help with control of physical distancing.
1. Staff are recommended to travel 1 person per vehicle, however if necessary 2 people can travel in a vehicle with as much space between them as possible (the driver and one passenger). Passengers should sit in the rear left-hand seat, as far from the driver as possible.
2. The event manager must ensure one staff member is dedicated to filling out the contact tracing form for each participant. The form must be filled out by a staff member to avoid contamination. ALL attendees’ names must go on the contact tracing form, regardless of whether they have registered online or not. For sign-in purposes, we can print off the online registrations and mark people off as they arrive, but their names and details must then go on the contact tracing form.
3. Cleaning stations will be set up with at least 1m between each station and extra soap and hand sanitiser available.
4. The Health and Safety talk will reiterate all new COVID-19 related protocols for the day.
5. We actively reiterate with people throughout the day that 2m social distancing is required throughout the day.
6. We will invest in a loud hailer for each office where we don’t have one.
7. Food/kai: Main preference is that no food is to be served during events until further notice. That said, if a sponsor insists on catering then the following must be followed:
a) Caterers must be selected carefully to make sure they are following strict COVID-19 health and safety regulations, we must review their most recent COVID-19 protocol before booking.
b) All/any packaging must be wiped/santitised before being set on the table.
c) Food is to be set out on compostable plates already portioned to minimise any unnecessary lingering and/or touching of items.
d) Attendees are to line up with 2m distancing and collect their food one by one.
e) Any food touched must be eaten or thrown away.
f) Gloves must be worn by food preparers and servers at all times.
8. Drinks: Phoenix drinks may be brought to site for some events. They must be transported in closed boxes and opened on site for refrigeration. One designated SC staff member will be responsible for the handling of all the drinks from storage to the volunteer. They will present the drinks on a table with spacings between each beverage, allowing the volunteers to line up and take a beverage without touching any of the other bottles.
Event manager must ensure:
1. This protocol is sent to all event attendees.
2. It is communicated with all event attendees that:
a) If they, or anyone they live with feels ill, please do not attend.
b) All attendees should follow cough and sneeze etiquette: Cough or sneeze into your elbow or a tissue (dispose of tissue immediately)
c) Wash and sanitise your hands regularly.
d) Social distancing of at least 1m must be adhered to.
e) The event may be cancelled at late notice due to the unfolding situation.
3. All equipment used (such as chairs, tables etc) where people may have come in contact with are to be cleaned and sanitised before and at the end of the event.
4. All waste and PPE must be securely and safely removed from The Flagship at the end of the event.
5. Contact tracing must be recorded.
6. No more than a maximum of 10 people.
1. DIY/Citizen Science kits are available but the following protocol must be in place:
a) All equipment is cleaned and sanitsed before being sent out.
b) If in Auckland, customers are asked beforehand to book in a pick up and drop off time and to adhere to social distancing rules when collecting their DIY kits.
c) If outside of Auckland, we use a contactless service with Castle Couriers so expect a package waiting on your doorstep.
d) Customers are also asked to clean equipment before returning including washing and drying any gloves they have used.
e) Upon return of any kits, staff must ensure they wear correct PPE and clean and sanitise all returned equipment. Gloves are to be taken to the dry cleaners as soon as possible.
2. Supported Events:
a) Equipment (please follow the above DIY kit protocol)
b) Social distancing must be adhered to.
c) No event should have more than 100 people for outdoor events and 10 for indoor events.
d) Contact tracing must be recorded thoroughly.
1. LYC and LYW presentations are available either pre-recorded or over a booked zoom meeting.
2. Online education programmes will go ahead as normal.
3. Where possible all LIEP engagements should be conducted online.
4. LIEP engagements can not go ahead until level 1 due to the team building, hands-on nature and number of people desired at these events (10-20).
5. Planning, booking and connecting with teachers included in all education activities should continue.
1. The “classroom” portion of the workshop to be delivered online/via Zoom and survey/audit training to observe the below face-to-face protocol
2. If any workshops, surveys or auditing do go ahead face to face the following protocol must be used:
a) Maximum 10 people.
b) If anyone planning to attend feels ill, please do not attend.
c) Social distancing of at least 1m must be adhered to.
d) Contact tracing must be recorded.
e) All equipment is to be sanitised before and after use.
3. Surveys take place out in the open and attendees are to keep at least 1m away from others:
a) Maximum 10 people.
b) Observe cough and sneeze guidelines.
c) Encourage everyone to wash their hands regularly.
d) Wipe all equipment with antibacterial spray and cloth.
e) Wear clean gloves at all times.
4. Audits and workshops while observing social distancing:
a) Discuss whether the numbers of participants can be scaled down. Can some people call in with video conferencing (using tools such as Zoom or Skype) to help.
b) Wipe down all surfaces with antibacterial spray before and after the audit.
c) Ensure that attendees observe physical distance where possible.
d) Assign roles within the auditing party (the following is just an example, and scope of roles can be adjusted according to your numbers):
All booked international volunteer placements have been rescheduled to start no earlier than 5th October 2020, this will continuously be updated as we learn more about travel restrictions in NZ.
1. The Leadership Team will review this document fortnightly and will update by consensus, and will provide updates to the board when required.
a) Any decision to close Sustainable Coastlines premises, including offices, storage spaces and The Flagship Education Centre, will be communicated to all staff, board members, interns and volunteers.
b) Any resulting amendments to this protocol will be communicated to all staff, board members, interns and volunteers.
c) This protocol will be available on the Sustainable Coastlines website.
d) Any stakeholders who are sent this protocol will be sent any updated versions as they are created.
