Am I putting myself at risk?

[Poopoodidoo]

Just read a thread where the OP met up with another mum for a walk which proved to be stressful for both, with one being ultra careful about distancing and the OP being a bit more relaxed.

I’ve tended to be fairly careful, but I was more on the OP’s side regarding her post. Judging by other responses though I think I’ve put myself at risk by going into the office this week to help one of my colleagues get ready for a court case. I printed papers and gave them to colleague, she sorted them into the order she wanted them in and redacted bits, then I took them back and scanned them. I didn’t think anything about this, we both used hand gel before passing the papers between each other, we didn’t strictly keep 2m apart though. I also picked up mail for our directorate from the post room and sorted and scanned it, which also involved the items being handed to me (again, not something I worried too much about at the time)

For me travelling into work on public transport was far more stressful as only half of passengers wore masks and some seemed to deliberately sit in the seats that were marked as not to be used.

It seems I’ve put myself at more risk by going into the office though? I don’t want to refuse to go in when asked in future, I actually enjoyed the change of scene and catching up with the few colleagues who were in. What do people think?

i have been going to the office all the time, as have many.
dont worry about it

the public transport side of things sounds negative, at least your wore a mask and presumably had a window open and kept your distance, washed your hands regularly.

I think you need to be a little more mindful of social distancing but that nothing else was an issue or put you at higher risk.

My only concern would be people not wearing masks on publuc transport. My solution would be: make the 2nd from front and back carriages mask free, upstairs on buses, etc, as used to be the case for smokers. Let the non compliant stick with the non compliant. Except for those issued with NHS confirmation they are exempt.

You were allowed to leave the house months ago you know. People have been at work for ages now.

You are obviously more at risk taking transport into your office to work with others outside of your household, even if you take precautions like masks and hand gel and following all the "rules."

There are lots of people unable to wfh who do this regularly or on a daily basis. Some of them have contracted COVID and others haven't. How much of a risk this is will depend on many factors and only you can decide whether it is worth it to you.

Well yes of course you're more at risk by going places than you are by staying home but is it a big or significant risk? Unless you have underlying conditions then no.

Thanks for responses. The travelling In is definitely of concern for me. There is definitely no policing of mask wearing and I doubt very much that 50% of passengers have underlying conditions which prevent them from wearing them. I think bus drivers have been told not to challenge passengers who don’t wear masks. I am generally the only person who opens the windows too (although I am that person who opens windows rain or shine anyway, even before Covid)

Yes, you did put yourself at risk, not by handling the paperwork, but by failing to social-distance. You know it's 2 metres unless mitigated by wearing masks, having screens between you etc so just try and be more aware in future and adhere to at least 2 metres if risks aren't otherwise mitigated.

@Jrobhatch29, I know that. I have been wfh since March but only needed to go into the office this week.

The thing about risk is it is actually just another need. Everyone will be making judgement calls about balancing their other needs with the need to consider risk.
Yes the risk is important but other needs matter too.

When youve made a decision to do something because your other needs outweigh the risks (no matter how risky), you might as well bloody enjoy it!!! Don't second guess yourself. That decision is done and dusted.

Tomorrow you might decide not to do something, because everything you do changes your present needs and risks. The day after to do it again. That's the thing our needs are not static anymore than the risks are.

I say this as a single mum to one who was shielding and now is homeschooled, and one who is back at school. Yes we will have some bumpy times as a result of this decision but it was the right balance of risk and needs for both children

@Itsabeautifuldayheyhey, I get what you are saying, and we did mitigate the risk within the guidelines, which state:

maintain a 2m distance or 1m with risk mitigations where 2m is not viable

Mitigating actions include:

• further increasing the frequency of hand washing 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)

The only thing we don’t have in our office are barriers, the other mitigation’s were maintained, so I’m not going to worry about the office.

I'm not really sure what your question is? Even if all of the rules and guidelines are followed perfectly, there is a chance you could contract CV. The rules and guidelines just make it less likely than it otherwise would be.

Staying at home without any contact with the outside world (including delivery of food and supplies) is the only option that would guarantee you didn't get CV.

Obviously no one can do that, so we do what we can/are comfortable to reduce the risk as much as possible. On the scale of risk, going to your office is riskier than wfh. It's less risky than going to work on a COVID ward. It's less risky if you follow the guidance than if you don't but not risk free.

I'm going into work as I can't work from home in my industry, sharing an office with 4 colleagues. We don't even think about stuff like this. You'll be fine.

Going to the office is putting you at more risk than working at home.
Using public transport is putting you at more risk than walking.
Being in an enclosed space is more of a risk than being outside.
Getting close to another person is more of a risk than staying 2m away.
Not wearing a mask is more of a risk than wearing one.

Touching objects or surfaces is fairly low risk especially with clean hands so that one seems unimportant.

Well, yes, you are putting yourself more at risk than you would be if you only stayed at home, but the question should be is it a high risk. By the sounds of it your office environment is not very high risk, but public transport is. If you have a choice about going to the office, you can consider whether that is an acceptable risk for you. If going into the office is compulsory in your job, then you could see if you could slightly alter the hours you are there to avoid peak times so the bus might be less busy, but you might not have a choice but to take the risk. I have been going to work throughout covid on buses, and sometimes the bus journey does feel like the riskiest part despite it being completely impossible to social distance in my job.