Efforts are continuing to ensure supermarkets and retailers are operating safely during the pandemic

Last week, BCP Council’s Trading Standards, environmental health officers, COVID marshals and Dorset Police visited more than 37 premises.

Since the beginning of January, BCP Council environmental health and trading standards teams has received 277 complaints concerning compliance with the COVID-19 legislation.

A large proportion of the businesses visited were found to be operating safely and had good measures in place. These included good sanitation, correct safety signage, limit of customer numbers entering the premises at one time and employees using the correct personal protection equipment.

Where issues were identified, council officers worked with the businesses to provide advice on issues such as congestion on the shop floor or shop entrances, displaying correct signage and providing gloves for customers to take unwrapped food products, roping off non-essential products and putting in place security staff on the door to ensure customers were adhering to the safety restrictions. Where issues could not be resolved on the day, they have been escalated up to the business head office.

Cllr May Haines, portfolio holder for community safety, BCP Council, said, “Now, more than ever it is so important that both businesses and customers play their part to help keep everyone safe during the pandemic. I would like to thank local residents and businesses for acting responsibly and following the necessary restrictions that are in place.

“The latest joint targeted visits to the large supermarkets and mixed retailers have been welcomed with the majority of businesses found to be complying or who have responded positively to advice provided by our officers to put in place the necessary safety measures. I hope that the joint presence of council and police patrols has offered reassurance to the public that we are responding to complaints and we will do all we can to ensure our communities are kept safe.”

Superintendent Heather Dixey, of Dorset Police, said, “We were really pleased to see an extremely high level of compliance with shoppers. The response and feedback from the public and stores about this joint activity was also very positive.”