Improvement notice lifted following changes at supermarket
Poster information
Posted on: Monday 19 October 2020
An improvement notice served upon Asda supermarket in Pyle has been lifted after the store introduced new changes to maintain social distancing to keep staff and customers safe.
It follows an inspection by officers from the Shared Regulatory Service who found that urgent changes were needed to the layout at the store’s entrance to prevent customers crossing paths.
It’s good to see that Asda acted promptly to make the required changes to their one-way system, and that the premises improvement notice could be lifted so quickly.
With cases of coronavirus increasing across Bridgend County Borough, officers from the Shared Regulatory Services have been visiting premises to offer support and advice to help them meet their responsibilities in keeping staff and customers safe.
Throughout this, it has been reassuring to see how many businesses are taking the situation seriously, and that further action has been required in just a small number of cases.
Councillor Dhanisha Patel, the Bridgend County Borough Council cabinet member whose portfolio includes Shared Regulatory Services,
Welsh Government regulations require businesses to take all reasonable measures to ensure that a two-metre distance can be maintained between people who are on the premises or are waiting to go in to the premises, and to also provide information to customers and staff on minimising the risk of exposure to coronavirus.
Businesses must also maintain high levels of hygiene and limit face-to-face interaction, especially in situations where two-metre distancing isn’t possible.
Business that have been served with a premises improvement notice must take steps to meet the regulations within a specific time frame, which is usually 48 hours.
If the business fails to comply, enforcement officers can issue a premises closure notice which forces part or all of the business to close for up to two weeks.
In circumstances where there has been a serious breach of regulations, enforcement officers also have the power to close premises immediately without having served an improvement notice.
However, this would always be a last resort, and officers will seek to work with a business wherever possible in order to help them meet their responsibilities during the pandemic.