COVID-19 Traders Guidelines

Trader COVID-19 Health and Safety Rules

These rules are based on the latest government guidance, together with local controls, to reduce the risk of transmission.

COVID Risk Assessment:

o Complete a COVID risk assessment for your business and submit prior to the festival when filling out the documents submission form.
(a minority of traders have had problems in the past uploading documents to this form, if that’s the case please email admin@yorkfoodfestival.com for a digital copy)
o An example of a COVID-19 risk assessment can be found here.

General Health and Safety:

o Provide employees with clear guidance on social distancing and hygiene before arrival.
o Follow all YFF CVOID-19 onsite instructions and signage.
o Reduce the number of employees working on the market.
o In an emergency (e.g., fire) people do not have to stay 2m apart if it would be unsafe.
o When involved in the provision of assistance to others, people should pay particular attention to sanitation measures immediately afterwards, including washing hands.
o General Health and Safety guidelines outside of COVID-19 are included in the documents submission form

Hygiene & Cleaning Standards:

o Handwashing facilities and/or hand sanitiser (with at least a 60% alcohol content) should be used by owner / employee to wash their hands regularly.
o Wash / sanitise hands before setting up, and at regular intervals (approx every 20 mins), to reduce the risk of transmission.
If physical contact with customers or any items a customer has touched occurs, hands must be washed / sanitised.
o Hand sanitiser (with at least a 60% alcohol content) should be on the stand for public use.
o Wash work clothes or uniforms at one location at the end of each working day.
o Clean work areas and equipment frequently with disinfectant to reduce transmission risk, taking care specifically with ‘touch points’.

Social Distancing:

o Whilst trading you need to observe, the government social distancing guidance wherever possible.
o A table / counter should be at the front of stand to facilitate a barrier for social distancing.
Goods should be collected by the trader for customers (so they don’t handle the goods themselves) from behind the table / counter.
If circumstances mean the trader needs to move outside the stand, government social distancing guidelines should be followed.
o Sampling – In general food samples present additional hazards such as frequent touch points, clustering of customers, contamination and food hygiene.  A trader shall not place samples of their foods on the tables in front of the stall.  Where samples are available they shall be retained on the stall and offered to customers on request.  The customer should be served with a single sample, and avoiding contact with the customer by placing in front of the customer on the table or using a tray to deliver the sample.
Any forks, spoons, bowls etc used shall be single use and shall be disposed of by the customer afterwards in a nearby bin (placed at the front of your stand)
o Remind customers of social distancing guidelines
o If possible, use contactless payment.
o If more than one staff working, use back-to-back or side-to-side working (rather than face-to-face) whenever possible.

Face Coverings: As the market is an outside area, face-coverings are not required.

o The general public and customers do not need to wear a face-covering when entering the market.
o Customers who consume food on the market do not need to wear face coverings
o Traders do not need to wear face coverings as all stalls can achieve social distancing.
o Traders who cannot reasonably achieve social distancing (e.g. needing to serve customers at the front of their stand or multiple staff ) must contact YFF to confirm how they intend to deploy additional controls, i.e. screens, visors, face-coverings etc

Note on PPE:
Based on government guidelines YFF do not mandate PPE for traders and advise to maintain high standards of hygiene:

o Washing your hands more often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, or using a hand sanitiser. Do this after you blow your nose, sneeze or cough, and before you eat or handle food.
o Avoiding touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
o Avoiding close contact with people who have symptoms.
o Covering your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throwing the tissue in a bin.
o Cleaning and disinfecting frequently-touched objects and surfaces in the home and when working.

Traders / Staff Health:

COVID-19 is a respiratory illness. The most important symptoms of COVID-19 are recent onset of any of the following:

o a new continuous cough
o a high temperature
o a loss of, or change in, your normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia)

For most people COVID-19 will be a mild illness. However, anyone who develops symptoms needs to self-isolate at home and not attend the festival, following stay at home government guidance and contacting NHS 119.

You should also not attend if:

o If anyone the same household has developed the above symptoms or isolating
o If returning to the UK from overseas in the last 14 days
(there are exemptions to this, which can be found here)
o If part of the NHS Test and Trace Program
o If notified by a GP that they are clinically extremely vulnerable