The definition of a Covid-Secure meeting venue is that it should have 2m social distancing or that it should have other mitigation in place and those motivations allow for 1m+ however they should be things like:
- a clean air supply
- mask wearing
- one table per person
- use of plastic screens or dividers.
Food and beverage for these meetings has to be delivered to a table in a Covid-Secure way. That means, we can’t just leave a pot of coffee out for you to help yourself to.
Covid-Secure venues for hospitality have to provide a Covid-Secure Risk assessment for your meeting. You have to be provided with a pre-arrival briefing where you declare you are fit to attend and test and trace registration is mandatory.
Where you can sit in the rule of six and I’d say this was more towards banquets and gala dinners, we’re certainly not doing it with our corporates yet, you have to sit in your seat, stay in your seat and you shouldn’t mingle with another group or change groups.
The commitment (I believe) is much higher from the event industry. The Meetings Industry Association advised that if you sit in a fabric chair or use table linen, we should quarantine that chair or linen for 72 hours or use chemical bombs on it. We have to thoroughly clean meeting rooms between delegates, we have to manage your exit and arrival compared to the exit and arrival of another group. Everything, from a pen you use to flip chart paper has become single use.
So my advice to your boss is; we are experts in our field and you get what you pay for. Stop being tight and book a meeting room where everyone can be safe. If you don’t want the formality of it, go outside - there are a myriad of places you could safely meet for a picnic.
I’m surprised that your employer would accept the risk level on this in their risk assessment to be honest. Ours wouldn’t. And we do this for a living.