Question: What lab employees should stay home and which should come into work?

Answer passage (source: UK):
page_title: Labs and research facilities
section_headers: 2. Who should go to work?
section_content: In this section

2.1 Protecting people who are at higher risk
2.2 People who need to self-isolate
2.3 Equality in the workplace

Objective: That everyone should work from home, unless they cannot work from
home.
Steps that will usually be needed:

Staff should work from home if at all possible. Consider who is needed to be on-site; for example:  

– workers in roles critical for business and operational continuity, safe
facility management, or regulatory requirements and which cannot be performed
remotely.
– workers in critical roles which might be performed remotely, but who are
unable to work remotely due to home circumstances or the unavailability of
specialist equipment required for R&D


Planning for the minimum number of people needed on-site to operate safely and effectively.


Monitoring the wellbeing of people who are working from home and helping them stay connected to the rest of the workforce, especially if the majority of their colleagues are on-site.


Keeping in touch with off-site workers on their working arrangements including their welfare, mental and physical health and personal security.


Providing equipment for people to work from home safely and effectively, for example, remote access to work systems.



Reviewer feedback on this answer:
The answer here is good.  It talks about people working in labs and whether they need to be there and how to work there safely.
This response is okay but it seems very generic for all businesses. The question wants to know specifically about lab workers which this doesn't really address with its unique circumstances

Reviewer ratings:
Excellent
Could be Improved

Answer passage (source: UK):
page_title: Labs and research facilities
section_headers: 2. Who should go to work?
2.2 People who need to self-isolate
section_content: Objective: To make sure individuals who are advised to stay at home under
existing government
guidance do not physically come to work. This includes individuals who have
symptoms of COVID-19 as well as those who live in a household with someone who
has symptoms.
Steps that will usually be needed:


Enabling workers to work from home while self-isolating if appropriate.


See current guidance for employees and employers relating to statutory sick pay due to coronavirus.


See current guidance for people who have symptoms and those who live with others who have symptoms.


*[COVID-19]: coronavirus

Reviewer feedback on this answer:
This info is more about how to isolate people.  The question is about how to make sure people in labs are working safely.
This response is only talking about how you should stay working from home and then gets into sick pay or if you have symptoms. This is not what the question is asking for with lab workers working on site

Reviewer ratings:
Bad
Could be Improved

Answer passage (source: UK):
page_title: Labs and research facilities
section_headers: 1. Thinking about risk
1.1 Managing risk
section_content: Objective: To reduce risk to the lowest reasonably practicable level by taking
preventative measures, in order of priority.
Employers have a duty to reduce workplace risk to the lowest reasonably
practicable level by taking preventative measures. Employers must work with
any other employers or contractors sharing the workplace so that everybody’s
health and safety is protected. In the context of COVID-19 this means working
through these steps in order:


In every workplace, increasing the frequency of handwashing and surface cleaning.


Businesses and workplaces should make every reasonable effort to enable working from home as a first option. Where working from home is not possible, workplaces should make every reasonable effort to comply with the social distancing guidelines set out by the government (keeping people 2m apart wherever possible).


Where the social distancing guidelines cannot be followed in full, in relation to a particular activity, businesses should consider whether that activity needs to continue for the business to operate, and, if so, take all the mitigating actions possible to reduce the risk of transmission between their staff.   


Further mitigating actions include:  
– increasing the frequency of handwashing and surface cleaning
– keeping the activity time involved as short as possible
– using screens or barriers to separate people from each other
– using back-to-back or side-to-side working (rather than face-to-face)
whenever possible
– reducing the number of people each person has contact with by using ‘fixed
teams or partnering’ (so each person works with only a few others)

Finally, if people must work face-to-face for a sustained period with more than a small group of fixed partners, then you will need to assess whether the activity can safely go ahead. No one is obliged to work in an unsafe work environment.   

In your assessment you should have particular regard to whether the people
doing the work are especially vulnerable to COVID-19.
The recommendations in the rest of this document are ones you should consider
as you go through this process. You could also consider any advice that has
been produced specifically for your sector, for example by trade associations
or trades unions.
If you have not already done so, you should carry out an assessment of the
risks posed by COVID-19 in your workplace as soon as possible. If you are
currently operating, you are likely to have gone through a lot of this
thinking already. We recommend that you use this document to identify any
further improvements you should make.
*[COVID-19]: coronavirus

Reviewer feedback on this answer:
This answer is talking about workers and keeping them safe in general.  It is not specific to people working in labs or related areas.
This response is pretty thorough and detailed. While not really aimed specifically at lab workers, it does talk about work place safety in general which is relevant to the question. I think this does a good job answering it

Reviewer ratings:
Acceptable
Acceptable