A back-to-work guide for business Foreword.
Welcome to our COVID-19 back-to-work guide designed to help you understand how best to return your employees to the office safely once the Government gives the green light. We have created this step-by-step guide using the experience we have gained from a range of different private sector organisations over the past year. Our aim is simple: to enable you to provide the safest possible environment for every employee and feel reassured that they can return to the office. Many people remain rightly anxious about the threat of COVID-19 for their own health as well as for family and friends. That is no surprise. Over the past year, we have all seen the tragic rise in the numbers of people losing their lives or being hospitalised as a result of catching COVID-19. Our research, conducted by the independent pollster Yonder, found many employees are concerned about returning to the office. 38% of employees are expecting any return to be entirely voluntary; 48% expect their employers to organise regular COVID-19 testing before they come back; and 22% don’t expect to return until they have been vaccinated. This guide is designed to enable you to reassure the people on whom the future success of your business depends that you have a plan that addresses their genuine concerns. Until the threat of COVID-19 has been eliminated completely, what is clear is that gold standard PCR testing will play a critical part of any back-to-work programme. That will not only provide your employees with the confidence to return to the office but also to be able to work normally again without social distancing or masks. That is a future every business wants to make happen. Increasingly, businesses understand the impact that Lockdown has had, particularly on the mental health of their staff. That is why now is the right time to plan to return to the office. To bring our teams together. To restart the creative spark that drives growth. To be the success stories of the future. It is what is right for the recovery of our economy and our country. We hope we can be part of your teamA back-to-work to achieve that goal. guide for business
Professor Denis Kinane Chief Medical Officer Nick Markham Steve Whatley & Co-Founder Co-Founder Co-Founder 2 Cignpost Diagnostics.
Since the start of the pandemic, Cignpost has helped many organisations to continue to operate. From elite sports to defence, film production to financial services, Cignpost Diagnostics has delivered hundreds of COVID-19 secure environments. For us, the COVID-19 test is just the start. Our virology panel of immunologists can assess whether someone is infectious or not and our team of GPs provide confidential one-to-one advice to anyone testing positive. We can test in your office, at home or at our mobile labs around the country. For anyone travelling abroad, we have testing facilities at major airports across the UK. That is why we are launching this guide as part of our campaign to encourage businesses to begin the return to normality.
3 The challenge.
As businesses start to reopen their offices, it doesn’t mean the danger of COVID-19 has passed. People want to come together again and get back to working as a team. However, special procedures need to be in place to safeguard your business and workforce to avoid COVID-19 transmission. Our experts can help create a COVID-19 secure working environment that prevents the spread of infection, ensures your business remains open, and enables your employees to safely meet, collaborate and innovate with confidence.
4 Vaccinations. 1
With vaccinations being rolled-out at speed, does your organisation need to continue testing employees? There are a number of factors to consider. Many of your employees will not yet have been vaccinated, and some will have conditions that mean they cannot be vaccinated. More research is needed to understand whether those who have been vaccinated or have had COVID-19 can still pass on the virus to others. There are also concerns about new variants of COVID-19 and whether the vaccines will protect against them. This means that you will need to test employees returning to the office to ensure that they are safe and well, and does not result in having to ask tens or hundreds of staff to return home with a single infected employee.
5 Not all tests are the same. 2
There are two main tests for COVID-19: lateral flow and PCR.
PCR test: This is the gold standard test to prevent workplace transmission. Tests can either be processed in a laboratory with results expected within 24 hours, or tested using dedicated on-site laboratories, with results in as little as 90 minutes.
A PCR test is the most sensitive and accurate test, identifying 99.9% of cases. It detects the virus at the lowest viral load level, meaning that it can identify a positive individual before they become infectious. These tests are not instantaneous as they need to be processed in a laboratory. The quality and effectiveness of the test will enable some social distancing practices to be relaxed.
Lateral flow test: Also known as ‘antigen’. This is a fast and inexpensive test that works in a similar way to a pregnancy test.
Lateral flow tests are widely used as they provide results quickly to large numbers of people. However, they can miss up to 50% of positive cases as they typically pick up only the most infectious people – therefore creating a risk of workplace COVID-19 spread. There have been past instances where positive cases have only been only caught after the virus has been passed on to others. Because lateral flow tests can miss significant numbers of positive cases, strict social distancing will continue to be required. As the graph
demonstrates, positive LATERAL FLOW TEST (ANTIGEN) cases are largely detected once the INFECTIVITY THRESHOLD person has a high viral load, and therefore, already contagious.
Pre-Infectious Infectious Period Period 6 How to test? 3
There are four different options. Hub and Spoke Testing A mobile testing pod can be installed at your desired location and take samples from hundreds of people. This is a quick and efficient way to test your entire staff for COVID-19. After taking the samples, results can be couriered to laboratories, and return results within 24 hours. Rapid On-Site Testing This involves installing a mobile laboratory at your location that allows swabs to be taken and then analysed directly on your site. This eliminates time lost in transportation and allows results to be returned within as little as 90 minutes for PCR tests and 20 minutes for lateral flow tests. At Home Testing can be carried out in two ways. Kits can either be sent directly to your employee homes, or a clinician can visit them to take the swab. Regional Centres There are a wide range of regional testing centres offering drive-through and walk-in testing, including in shopping centres, airports and business hubs.
7 Frequency. 4
We have been providing a full COVID-19 testing service for hundreds of businesses, across multiple sectors, throughout the pandemic, and have maintained a 100% success rate in preventing workplace transmission. Our recommended testing programme designed to detect infection before transmission is a twice weekly PCR test. For any business where employees are returning to the workplace for part of the time, we would develop a tailored variation of this.
8 What happens if someone tests positive? 5
A rigorous testing programme does not prevent someone catching COVID-19 outside the workplace, but it does help prevent an outbreak within the workplace. With our twice weekly gold standard PCR tests in place, businesses can catch positive cases before the virus spreads. Our team ‘double test’ all positive results and we have a team of GPs on hand to provide one-to-one support for anyone testing positive. Our dedicated virology panel assess every positive result to ensure employees can only return back to work when it is safe. Did you know… You can test positive for several months after catching COVID-19, yet not be infectious throughout. Our specialist virology panel works with our team of doctors to assess when it is safe to return to work, safeguarding both the individual, their families and your business.
9 Additional guidance. 6
In addition to our step-by-step rigorous COVID-19 testing regime, there are general guidelines that the Government has drawn up about office working that are frequently updated. For more guidance on general COVID-19 safety procedures please visit: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working- safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/offices- and-contact-centres
10 Testimonials. 7
With our 100% success rate in preventing workplace transmission, we have successfully helped businesses in every part of the country to keep working safely.
“The Cignpost Diagnostics COVID-19 screening service has allowed The Pursuit of Love to return to work quickly and safely, to get us back to doing what we do best - producing great television. The mobile laboratory is extremely professional, staffed by a team of technicians who efficiently turn our tests around quickly with results back with us within a few short hours. I’ve been especially impressed at the flexibility shown by the Cignpost Diagnostics team who have reacted quickly to changes in the testing numbers as our schedule has evolved throughout the shoot.” Ian Hogan, Producer BBC
“If you look at the process that we have put in place with Cignpost Diagnostics it’s about decreasing risk. When they arrive at the venue everyone gets a temperature check, they also have a PCR test that’s taken and it only takes 2-4 hours to get the results back, which is much faster than any other professional sport. ” Dr Andrew Murray, European Tour
11 Reunite your people.
• Approved by UK Government Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). • Operate in accordance with ISO15189 and United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) standards. • Over 30 laboratories, and a team of over 700 people, including over 110 scientists. • 100% success rate in preventing workplace transmission. • Gold standard PCR tests, with 99%+ accuracy. • Test equipment manufactured in accordance with ISO13485. • Report results into the NHS ‘Track & Trace’.
Let us help you get back to work safely:
+44 (0)203 908 3938
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