Published: Friday, 29th May 2020
Environmental Health Officers from Cannock Chase Council have been visiting businesses in Cannock town centre to find out what measures have been put in place in response to COVID-19 restrictions and understand the challenges faced.
Lindsey Ellison, Senior Environmental Health Officer, Food and Safety Team said:
“It is important to stay in touch with our businesses and to catch up with those that are open at this time. We know it has been a real struggle, and for some devastating, and we appreciate the efforts businesses are making to develop safe new ways of working to accommodate the COVID-19 restrictions placed on them. We want to offer support and advise where we can.
“We have found small food businesses open and implementing simple and effective controls such as Hannah’s on Market Place in Cannock, a family business run by Dave Rogers and Ann Eccleshall. As they couldn’t open the café to the public, they have been providing take away sandwiches and cakes and have a table set up in the café entrance, a simple social distancing barrier between customers and themselves.
“For other businesses it wasn’t always obvious if they had procedures in place. One example is Jam Jam Caribbean Takeaway on Walsall Road in Cannock managed by Angie and Garfield. They had received the government guidance in an email from our team and had some questions for us. As it turns out they had a system, they just needed to reinforce this with additional signage for customers. Very easy and simple to remedy.”
The Food and Safety Team also want to help businesses who are now planning to re-open in June. New industry guidance sets out `5 steps to working safely` in relation to COVID-19 and provides practical actions for all businesses to take.
Businesses which are open or planning to open are strongly advised to read the new guidance documents and complete the steps to putting controls in place. The guides can be found online here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19
Teams from Environmental Health will be out and about in the District over the coming weeks to offer advice and support where it is needed. If you want any advice regarding opening your business or want help implementing the guidance please email environmentalhealth@cannockchasedc.gov.uk
Photo:
Garfield and Angie, Jam Jam, Walsall Road in Cannock with Emily Mackinnon, Environmental Health Officer, Food and Safety Team, Cannock Chase Council.