Workplace design
1. Are staff allowed to rearrange furniture and equipment in offices independently? Is support available for such purposes if necessary?
You may carry out smaller tasks that do not involve injury risks yourselves. If you have more extensive tasks to fulfil, you may contact the caretakers in the Facility Management Department.
2. When is a two-person office/shared office considered too small?
At present, use of an office by two or more persons at a time is to be avoided. If this is not possible, it must be ensured that a minimum distance of at least 1.5 m between all persons present can be kept at all times – otherwise, the office is too small.
3. Is there sufficient protection in two-person offices if there are two monitors between the members of staff?
If the distance between yourself and the person opposite you is 1.5 m, no further protection is required. If the distance is less than 1.5 m, the monitors do not provide sufficient protection and they are not an adequate replacement for a (transparent) barrier, e.g. a screen or plastic curtain.
4. How can schedules help reduce the intensity of use of workspaces?
This means that staff is to be scheduled to be present on campus at different times. Schedule only as many members of staff to be present at the same time as the premises permit if the distance rule is adhered to. This includes corridors and common rooms.
5. Rooms that are currently not used for teaching are to be employed as workspaces in order to better distribute staff working on campus. Is there an overview of available rooms?
The individual organisational units are responsible for managing their own meeting rooms and offices. In addition, you can find availability information on centrally managed rooms via LSF. If you would like to book an available room, you can also do so via LSF.
6. Who organises distance labelling?
The Facility Management Department will centrally install signs at frequently used entrances and staircases. The Staff Unit for Occupational Safety & Health and Environmental Protection provides material for labelling that individual organisational units have defined themselves (e.g. distance marking).
7. Who instals (transparent) barriers between workstations? Are there any contacts for these tasks?
The barriers provided by the carpenter’s workshop are not complicated to install. Thus, staff can set them up themselves. If you do need help installing the barriers, please contact the carpenter’s workshop.
8. What can you do if you are unsure how the distancing rules can be implemented in departments that have visitor contact?
It may be helpful to adjust or supplement the measures outlined in the internal action plan for your department. When doing so, you can follow the S-T-O-P principle:
1) Substitute (replace) sources of danger
2) Technical measures
3) Organisational measures
4) Personal measures
If you need help implementing, adjusting or supplementing measures, the Occupational Safety and Health Specialists (technical and personal measures) and the Work Psychology Unit (organisational and personal measures) will provide assistance.
9. Can a workstation be used by different persons on different days? What must be taken into consideration in such scenarios?
Yes, this is permitted if it is ensured that workstations that are used alternatingly by different staff are cleaned on every workday. Cleared work surfaces, telephones and door handles will be cleaned by the cleaning service on every workday. If the staff schedule provides for different members of staff working at the same workstation in the course of one workday, staff have to organise cleaning between two shifts themselves.
10. Where can you spend your breaks?
If you have an office, you can spend your break there or outdoors. Please also comply with the general hygiene and distancing rules during your breaks.
If you do not have an office, your department should provide a sufficiently large break room that allows ventilation. Unused rooms (see LSF) can also be employed for this purpose. A break schedule may be helpful to ensure compliance with distancing rules and avoid queues.
11. When will catering services in canteens and cafés resume?
The U-Café at the Duisburg campus (Building LA) and the gelbe Cafete at the Essen campus (Building T01) are currently open between 9.30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Interior seating and sanitary facilities can be used but are subject to restrictions. The outdoor facilities of the U-Café are the only ones that may be used at present. All others remain closed. The ‘Die Brücke’ café at the Essen campus is in operation. Please comply with the general hygiene and distancing rules when visiting. The canteens operated by the Studierendenwerk will remain closed for the time being.
12. How is contact to be documented?
The commissioning or inviting/organising unit must always document contact. For simple tracing in accordance with Section 2a of the Coronavirus Protection Ordinance (CoronaSchVO), names, addresses, phone numbers and, if the composition of the group changes, attendance times must be recorded in writing and kept for four weeks. Documenting such information in meeting minutes, attendance lists and calendars is sufficient. For UDE staff and other known participants, addresses and phone numbers do not need to be documented if this information can be subsequently retrieved at any time. For all other cases, forms are available in the download section of UDE’s coronavirus information page (German only: -> Schutzmaßnahmen und Arbeitsplatzgestaltung -> Kontaktdokumentation).
Documentation will be ensured in a different way for the central areas below:
- The staff schedule of the cleaning company will be consulted to identify contact with cleaning staff.
- For window cleaning services, the accompanying caretaker will document basic information.
- In the case of centrally organised maintenance and repair services, the person commissioning the work is to document the parties involved (contractors).
This data will then be matched with the presence documentation of the units visited as required. In addition, it is helpful if visited units record contact with present staff in order to allow prompt mutual notification if infections occur. Additional information: Some self-contained areas have lists for contact documentation purposes posted at their entrances in which you are to note your information upon entering. However, in doing so, minimum data protection requirements must be met – personal address information and phone numbers must be protected and must not be visible to other visitors (e.g. only the name, contact person and time are to be entered in the list while contact information is left with the contact person).
Guests and external parties must be instructed on the coronavirus-related measures in place at UDE (once is sufficient for returning guests). Supporting material is also available for this purpose in the download section of UDE’s coronavirus information page.