CORONAVIRUS UPDATE 3rd JULY 2020

Face coverings to become mandatory in Scottish shops

The use of face coverings will become mandatory in shops in Scotland from 9 July as coronavirus restrictions are eased, Nicola Sturgeon has said.

Non-essential shops have reopened in Scotland and bars and restaurants are due to open again later this month.

The first minister said the 2m physical distancing rule would be eased for some premises when the country enters the next phase of its route map on 10 July.

And she said face coverings would be mandatory in shops from that date.

Some are exempt from the rules including:
 Children under 11
 People with disabilities
 Those with breathing difficulties
 Anyone travelling with someone who relies on lip reading

Ms Sturgeon said shop staff would not be expected to enforce the rule, with the police instead mandated to issue fixed penalty notices to people not wearing face coverings.

Food Standards Scotland response to our question on whether this applies to shop staff in a food business

“The requirement for face coverings refers to the cloth type coverings which have been advised by the First Minister as being mandatory in shops for customers and staff.”

“With regard to food premises, there remains a requirement to maintain 2 metre Physical Distancing and the use of screens between customers and staff as appropriate.”
“Today's announcement is really focussed on customers however it was agreed that staff in shops open for business should also be required to wear them.”
“This was all developed with non-food retail or people working on the shop floor and checkouts at supermarkets in mind.”

“In order to recognise that many retailers will include food handlers, the legal requirement behind the announcement is drafted to reflect the fact that in some situations face coverings may not be appropriate as they could present a hygiene risk that compromises food safety. Food businesses are already managing risks by ensuring staff are not at work if they are symptomatic and also applying food safety management and hygiene measures as part of their HACCP as outlined above.”
“It is therefore for the business to determine whether it is appropriate for their staff to wear a face covering while they are handling food, so if they have carried out a risk assessment which indicates that their use would pose a risk to food safety, then they are not required in this setting.”

Updated information from Food Standards Scotland 03-07-2020

Is should be noted that the legislation to implement this state that a face covering is not required: where the person is undertaking food handling tasks, to avoid risk to the hygiene or safety of food,

This ensures that it does not compromise food safety management. And in these butcher retail environments, where the staff are routinely handling food it can also be argued that it is a health and safety issue (e.g. if it impacts on line of sight when using knives, or even acts as a reservoir for meat juices that could be contaminated with STEC etc)

And there is a further derogation in the regulation that would cover this aspect which is relevant to butchers:

to avoid injury, illness or to escape a risk of harm,

It would be better if the retail butchers take other measures such as the use of screens and maintaining 2 meters where possible.
We anticipate that you will have some problems with customers who will not understand why some staff are not wearing face coverings. We have been in discussion with Food Standards Scotland on this issue. We will produce some information posters to explain the reasons and the other protections you have in place.
We will issue this via e-mail early next week

Survey: Helping Scottish food businesses focus on health

FDF Scotland is supporting small to medium sized food companies to make their products healthier, through our Scottish Government funded Reformulation for Health programme.

We need your help to make sure we are providing companies with the best possible support. We would like to understand what the main drivers are for considering making recipes healthier, any challenges you have faced, and any additional support that may be required.

We would be grateful if you could spare 10 minutes to complete the survey.

The survey will be open until 14 July and all responses will be reported anonymously.

Your feedback will be useful in supporting this work.

Thank you for participation

The Scottish Craft Butchers office in Perth is now closed following government guidelines.
We will be available to our members to answer any queries via email or by mobile phone and will be available out of office hours for any members wanting to contact us.
Our contact details are below
Gordon King: – [email protected] 07917524313
Bruce McCall: – [email protected] 07834490922