Navigating through the new regulations to get up and running in no time
As from Friday 22nd May 2020 Malta will re-open certain catering & hospitality establishment following their closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it’s not business as usual for these establishments and there are certain measures, precautions and procedures that every establishment has to implement. These measures are based on the principles of social distancing, enhanced hygienic practices and minimised infection risks.
The establishments that are allowed to re-open are:
Collective Accommodation Establishment (Hotels, Guesthouses & Hostels)
Holiday Furnished Premises (Lidos, outdoor swimming pools, Outdoor entertainment areas)
Catering Establishment (Restaurants & Snack Bars)
Beaches, Beach Establishment & Beach Concessions
Recognising the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic is a public health emergency and that business continuity in respect of COVID-19 should be founded on expert public health advice and on social dialogue, the following principles shall apply:
✓ All workers, regardless of their occupation or how they are engaged, have the right to a healthy and safe working environment.
✓ The COVID-19 pandemic requires a focused approach to work health and safety as it applies to the above establishments.
✓ To keep the workplace healthy and safe, employers must, in consultation with workers and their representatives, assess the way they work to identify, understand and quantify risks and implement and review control measures that address those risks.
✓ As COVID-19 restrictions are gradually relaxed, employers and workers must work together to adapt and promote safe work practices consistent with advice from public health authorities and to ensure that the above establishments are ready for the social distancing and exemplary hygiene measures that are critical to the success of the transition.
✓ Employers and workers must actively control against the transmission of COVID-19 while at work, consistent with the updated advice from the public health authorities.
✓ Employers and workers must prepare for the possibility that there will be cases of COVID-19 in the workplace and be ready to respond immediately, appropriately, effectively and efficiently, and consistent with specific recommendations from public health authorities.
These principals bring a number of restriction and burdens on the operations of your premises and in most cases these will result in serving less clients as social distance measures and restriction on the number of people gathering together (not more than 6) must be observed.
Catering and hospitality establishments must adapt to this new reality and make it work for them. For every establishment category there is specific checklist that has to be compiled and adhered to.
THREESIXO can guide your business through this process and together we will succeed! Feel free to contact us to check how we can be of any assistance.
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