Prevention in the reopening of local retail commerce to the public

The Official State Gazette has published last Sunday Order SND/388/2020, of May 3, which establishes the conditions for the opening to the public of certain businesses and services, the opening of files, as well as for the practice of professional sports and federated.

All retail establishments and commercial premises and professional services activities whose activity had been suspended after the declaration of the state of alarm may proceed to reopen to the public by virtue of the provisions of article 10.1 of Royal Decree 463/2020 of March 14, by which the state of alarm is declared for the management of the health crisis situation caused by COVID-19, with the exception of those that have a surface area of more than 400 square meters, as well as those that have the character of a shopping center or park, or that are located within them without direct and independent access from the outside.

The hygiene measures detailed in article 2 of the ministerial order and that must be applied to these establishments and premises open to the public are:

• Establishments and premises that are open to the public will carry out, at least twice a day, cleaning and disinfection of the facilities with special attention to the most frequently touched surfaces such as doorknobs, counters, furniture, handrails, dispensing machines, floors, telephones, hangers, carts and baskets, faucets, and other elements with similar characteristics, in accordance with the following guidelines. One of the cleanings will be carried out at the end of the day.
• Disinfectants such as dilutions of freshly prepared bleach or any of the disinfectants with virucidal activity that are on the market and that have been authorized and registered by the Ministry of Health will be used for cleaning. If a commercial disinfectant is used, the label instructions must be followed. After each cleaning, the materials used and the personal protective equipment used will be safely discarded, followed by hand washing.
• For this cleaning, a break in the opening dedicated to maintenance, cleaning and replacement tasks may be carried out throughout the day and preferably at noon. Likewise, cleaning and disinfection of the workstations will be carried out at each shift change, with special attention to counters, screens, keyboards, payment terminals, touch screens, work tools and other elements susceptible to manipulation, paying special attention to those used by more than one worker.

The risk prevention measures for personnel who provide services in establishments and premises that are open to the public detailed in article 3 of the ministerial order are:

• The following workers will not be able to take up their jobs in commercial establishments:
  • Workers who at the time of the reopening of the commercial establishment are in home isolation due to having a diagnosis of COVID-19 or have any of the compatible symptoms.
  • Workers who, without symptoms, are in a home quarantine period due to having had contact with a person with symptoms or diagnosed with COVID-19.
• The owner of the economic activity of the establishment or premises must comply, in all cases, with the risk prevention obligations established in current legislation, both in general and specifically to prevent the spread of COVID19.In this sense, will ensure that all workers have personal protective equipment appropriate to the level of risk and that they have permanently at their disposal, in the workplace, hydroalcoholic gels with virucidal activity authorized and registered by the Ministry of Health for hand cleaning, or when this is not possible, soap and water.
• The use of masks will be mandatory when the interpersonal safety distance of approximately two meters between the worker and the client or between the workers themselves cannot be guaranteed. All personnel must be trained and informed about the correct use of the aforementioned protective equipment. The above will also apply to all workers of third-party companies that provide services at the premises or establishment, whether on a regular basis or occasionally.
• The distance between seller or service provider and customer throughout the customer service process will be at least one meter when there are protection elements or barriers, or approximately two meters without these elements. In the case of services that do not allow the maintenance of interpersonal safety distance, such as hairdressers, beauty centers or physiotherapy, the appropriate individual protective equipment must be used to ensure the protection of both the worker and the client, and must always ensure the maintenance of a distance of two meters between one client and another.
• Likewise, the distance measures provided for in this order must be complied with, where applicable, in the workers' changing rooms, lockers and toilets, as well as in the rest areas, dining rooms, kitchens and any other area of common use.
• If a worker begins to have symptoms compatible with the disease, he or she will immediately contact the telephone number provided for this purpose by the autonomous community or corresponding health center. The worker must leave his or her job until his or her medical situation is assessed by a health professional or as established in each case by the companies' occupational risk prevention services.