COVID-19 SPECIAL: FACE MASKS

COPS AND ROBBERS: THE GREAT FACE MASK FURORE

PETE CHEEMA, CEO, SCOTTISH GROCERS’ FEDERATION

CONFUSION REIGNED IN SCOTLAND LAST WEEK AS FIRST MINISTER NICOLA STURGEON ANNOUNCEDTHAT WEARING FACE MASKS IN STORES WOULD BECOME MANDATORY, DESPITE CONCERNS OVER IN-STORE CRIME, BUT FAILED TO SPELL OUT SEVERAL KEY DETAILS. SGF CEO PETE CHEEMA CLARIFIESTHE ISSUES.

Despite the Scottish Grocers’ Federation’s sustained and strenuous efforts to ensure that the wearing of face coverings in local retailing outlets was left voluntary due to significant concerns around in-store crime, Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon nonetheless announced that face coverings will indeed become mandatory in retail settings from this Friday (10 July) in Scotland. This follows a similar requirement to wear face coverings in public transport from 22 June.

Unfortunately, the official announcement failed to address some key issues, not least of which was whether it was compulsory for shop staff as a well as their customers to wear face coverings and whether local retailers would be responsible for enforcing the legislation in-store.

In the aftermath of the announcement, the SGF was inundated by calls and emails from retailers asking for clarification. We immediately contacted the Scottish Government to seek these clarifications.

We now understand that the measure applies to all shops when customers are present and staff will indeed be required to wear masks if they cannot physically distance for two metres, or there is no partition between customers and staff.

A face covering is defined as any type of protective clothing which covers a person’s nose and mouth. It does not have to be a PPE face mask. Customers are expected to provide their own face coverings, but we strongly encourage retailers to have their own stocks of cloth or textile face coverings available as an initial encouragement to those customers without face coverings. Be aware too that it is a criminal offence with a fixed penalty notice if the law is broken.

Importantly, shop workers and retailers are not required to enforce this law, but we ask you to engage with customers who are not wearing a face-covering and explain the law. If customers refuse to wear a face covering, retailers should not stop customers from entering the store or from being served. The responsibility rests with the customer.

The measure covers the full range of different indoor retail outlets with some exemptions:

Children under five years of age.

People with health conditions who cannot put on, wear or remove a face covering because of any physical or mental illness or impairment or disability or without severe distress.

If people need to take medication or to eat or drink where reasonably necessary.

Temporary removal is permitted to comply with a request by a relevant person or another person acting in the course of their duties.

For customers with a hearing impairment and those who lip-read, it is permitted to remove face coverings, as necessary, to provide advice, information or assistance.

For age-related sales customers are asked to ensure that they remove face coverings in accordance with requests from staff.

In some food-handling settings where the wearing of a mask could compromise the hygiene practices that are already in place to ensure food safety.

The wearing of a face covering can be uncomfortable and may not be appropriate for long durations of time so employers should therefore consider providing opportunities for staff to temporarily remove face coverings in non-public areas. Where staff have concerns on wearing face coverings, this should be resolved in discussion between staff and managers.

The guidance will apply in indoor shopping malls including those with covered walkways, retail service settings such as hairdressers and in wholesale settings where members of the public are present.

It is recognised that there may be certain tasks that staff in food shops need to carry out where face coverings may not be appropriate. For example, where staff are handling food items or preparing meals and it is assessed that the wearing of a mask could increase the risk of other types of infection (i.e. non-Covid) from getting into the food and potentially make it unsafe.

Note too that Covid-19 is a respiratory infection and the wearing of face coverings is intended to prevent the spread of infection between people. There is no evidence that it can make people ill through food. It is therefore important that wearing a face covering doesn’t affect the hygiene controls that should already be in place to ensure food is protected from other bacteria and viruses that can cause food poisoning. If there is any concern that wearing a face covering could present a risk to the food, the shop worker would not be required to wear one.