Businesses encouraged to check out COVID Sense Scheme

Businesses, venues and organisations in Orkney are being encouraged to check out the Scottish Government's COVID Sense Signage scheme.

The scheme is being piloted in a number of areas across Scotland, including Orkney, and is aimed at members of the public being able to check ahead of time what infection control measures are in place at a business/venue - for example face coverings, ventilation, CO2 monitoring and physical distancing.

Businesses interested in signing up for the scheme undertake a self-evaluation process by going through a checklist of measures they have in place. These are logged on a central website for members of the public to view and businesses/venues will then be able to display a poster showing their self-assessment on their premises.

The scheme is entirely voluntary.

The scheme is free and simple to use - more information is available at www.gov.scot/covid-signage-scheme

Whilst the scheme is designed to be self-administered, wider free support and specialist advice around COVID-secure measures, including short-term loan of CO2 monitors to assess ventilation, is available through the Council's Environmental Health Team.

Ceri Dare is the Council’s Covid Recovery Adviser. She said: "COVID Sense means that businesses, venues, and organisations can be resilient to current and future outbreaks of COVID and other infectious diseases. This will increase customer and staff confidence, reduce business disruption and sickness absence, and provide a strong foundation for economic and social recovery.

“Using COVID Sense means that folk can feel more confident in getting back to the things we’ve missed, whilst reducing pressure on the NHS and key services which are so important to keep our island communities going.

“Orkney can be proud of leading the way in a large-scale pilot of the COVID Sense Signage scheme. I would encourage folk to sign up and provide feedback on the pilot as soon as possible, so we can ensure that this significant new Scottish Government initiative works well for Orkney.”

The COVID Sense Signage Scheme is free and designed to be easy to use, and most of the measures will be free or low cost to implement.

The Orkney Library and Archive is one of the local facilities that has signed up for the scheme.

Vikki Kerr is the Council’s Team Leader (Libraries and Archives). She said: “Here at the Library and Archive we were keen to sign up to the COVID Sense Signage Pilot Scheme to give all our customers clear and relevant guidance to feel safe coming in to use our facilities.

"The pilot documentation was really easy to fill in to create posters and populate them with our own logo, using our existing risk assessment information. We also have customer feedback forms which again were created from a template and easily accessible for people to fill in. I would encourage anyone interested to find out more about the scheme.”

For additional free tailored specialist advice and support around COVID resilience, including short term loan of CO2 monitors to assess ventilation, get in touch with Ceri Dare from the Council's environmental health team at  or 01856873535 ext 2817.