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Covid

Should my plumber have worn a mask?

33 replies

Jenasaurus · 21/08/2020 16:56

I had a blocked sink that nothing would shift the blockage, so much that everytime the washing machine went on the water came up and flooded my kitchen, tried everything and in the end contacted my resident facebook page for a recommendation.

The guy turned up, very pleasant guy, wasnt wearing a mask though, and touched my hand on many occassions as I was helping him by holding a bucket under the washing machine hoses as it emptied..he told me he has worked throughout lockdown. He did a great job but when talking about it to my DS who asked about the blockage I realised he wasnt wearing a mask and had been in and out of houses all day fixing drains etc., What is the rule on this as we were not 1m apart and in a small kitchen as I was holding his hose to stop it leaking.

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yikesanotherbooboo · 21/08/2020 16:59

He might have had a reason why he can't. In theory if not social distancing ie near enough to touch you he should have been wearing one. We have people coming to the house not wearing masks but if they were coming up close and personal than it would be they done thing' I think.

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StillCounting123 · 21/08/2020 17:00

I'm selling my house so seeing estate agents, work men, surveyor and none of them have worn a mask. Wouldn't bother me , but I'm not at a high risk group.

I think it's within your rights to ask someone coming into your house to wear a mask or have some disposable ones ready to give out to tradespeople if you're worried.

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Jenasaurus · 21/08/2020 17:17

I wasnt really worried, its just others that asked me if he was and I realised he wasnt and neither was I to be fair and we were very close, his hand touched mine a few times, I didnt put my hand in my mouth or nose though and washed them afterwards as had been dealing with a yucky drain anyway.

To be honest there are so many lines of transmission at the moment that could get me from various routes, I just am trying to be sensible.

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Akire · 21/08/2020 17:26

I would expect a workman to wear one as standard, especially when they go in and out of houses all day. If for some reason they can’t, I would expect to be told in advance so that I could wear one and make sure anyone vulnerable was out of the way.

I still think we should be doing our best to limit where we can.

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AlecTrevelyan006 · 21/08/2020 18:08

there is no legal requirement for a plumber, or other tradesperson to wear a mask

www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/homes

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ACautionaryTale · 21/08/2020 18:11

We’ve had carpenters, plasterers, electricians and decorators in over the last six weeks

None of them have worn a mask and nor would I expect them to whilst doing manual labour.

We’ve also made them bacon rolls and god knows how many cups of tea and biccies - didn’t give it a second thought

Life has to go on

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FizzAfterSix · 21/08/2020 19:39

He was doing hot sweaty work in a confined space. It’s very unreasonable to expect him to wear a mask.
Maybe unblock the sink yourself next time.

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Savananan · 21/08/2020 19:40

We had to have emergency work done through lockdown and none wore masks, but they did ask on the phone when we booked if we wanted them to (said no).

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loudev · 21/08/2020 20:06

I personally wouldn't expect a plumber to wear a mask, I find them a nuisance when shopping so can only imagine how annoying they are when trying to do a job like that. I'm not a high risk so I wouldn't be bothered. I think if you are genuinely worried you could have asked him to wear one I'm sure he would have.

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Bol87 · 21/08/2020 20:41

Curry’s came to fix my washing machine this week & neither workman wore a mask. They had them slung round their necks 🙄 I’m not anxious re-Covid, I’ll likely be fine but equally I don’t really want to catch it as being ill with kids is hard enough without the whole isolation thing as well! So I wasn’t very impressed.. I’m also selling my house & the agents, photographers & viewers have all worn masks!
I queried it with Curry’s & they confirmed it was their policy to wear masks & then workers would be spoken too..

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Lucindainthesky · 21/08/2020 20:46

I wouldn't have a trades person in my house without a mask and would check when making the appt. If they couldn't wear one I would find somebody else.

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Findahouse21 · 21/08/2020 20:51

Holding his hose to stop it leaking

Sniggers

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Pootle40 · 21/08/2020 21:01

Had various people working in our house recently (without masks) and didn't give it a second thought.

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Derbygerbil · 21/08/2020 21:02

But did you wear a mask?!

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ChardonnaysPetDragon · 21/08/2020 21:03

Yes.

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BellaintheWychElm · 21/08/2020 21:04

@Bol87

Curry’s came to fix my washing machine this week & neither workman wore a mask. They had them slung round their necks 🙄 I’m not anxious re-Covid, I’ll likely be fine but equally I don’t really want to catch it as being ill with kids is hard enough without the whole isolation thing as well! So I wasn’t very impressed.. I’m also selling my house & the agents, photographers & viewers have all worn masks!
I queried it with Curry’s & they confirmed it was their policy to wear masks & then workers would be spoken too..

So why didn't you ask them to pull their masks up instead of dobbing them in later?
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Derbygerbil · 21/08/2020 21:08

I would want a tradesperson to ask, it’s only polite and they have no idea how vulnerable you are.

However, if one asked me, I wouldn’t ask him/her to wear one unless there was protracted close contact, which isn’t normal in most tradesperson interactions!

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Derbygerbil · 21/08/2020 21:12

@BellaintheWychElm

Why should she confront two men? It’s not her job to get them to comply with their company’s policy. It would be intimidating for many people. If they were breaching company policy and potentially putting vulnerable people, then I’d be glad if they got a bollocking.

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Jrobhatch29 · 21/08/2020 21:15

I have had carpet fitters in and a plumber to fit an outdoor tap (though they did need access to kitchen too). None wore masks but then again they didn't come anywhere near us

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BellaintheWychElm · 21/08/2020 21:27

Derbygerbil Big leap to go from asking someone who already had the mask round his neck to pop it on please and "confrontation". I would imagine sometimes it's just simpler in life to try an be an adult instead of tutting about it and then complaining.

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Pertella · 21/08/2020 21:41

The important question is did he want to use your toilet and did you let him Grin

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Mydogdoesntlisten · 21/08/2020 21:57

Agree with Findahouse. I'm worried about you holding his leaking hose rather than him not wearing a mask.
Btw we have had plumbers in sans masks and all is well (and they did use our loo as well).

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00Sassy · 21/08/2020 22:07

We had a plumber round to sort out a loo yesterday.
He asked me if I’d like him to wear a mask and I said I didn’t mind what he chose to do and asked if he would like me to wear one.

He chose not to wear one and said he didn’t mind what I did either (so I didn’t) it was all fine.

We did socially distance as much as possible though.

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Lovely1a2b3c · 22/08/2020 00:38

We had a plumber visit today and he was wearing a mask and gloves so it's not unreasonable to expect it.

Also I've been doing some deep cleaning tasks (for up to 3 hrs) wearing a mask recently at home and it's really not that much worse wearing one than not doing so!

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BananaPop2020 · 22/08/2020 00:48

I would not expect any visitor or tradesman coming to my home to wear a mask. I can’t believe some of the posters on here who refuse to say anything to the person at the time, then ring up the employer to whinge after the event.

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