Disabled people who employ personal assistants (PAs) may have been having to live without them during the Covid-19 pandemic because either they or their PAs have been shielding or self-isolating.
However if your PA is returning to work in the near future the Sheffield Individual Employer and PA Development Group has produced a new Risk Assessment Tool to support employers to minimise any risks for their PAs to return to work so that you and they feel safe. The group is made up of people who have experience of employing their own PAs and people who work as PAs. In every situation you should always talk with your PAs and have an honest conversation about what risks they and you are worried about. The Risk Assessment Tool is a useful guide to those conversations and gives topics and poses questions . You can record on the document what you and your PA have agreed will happen and review it as national guidance changes.
Among the subjects covered are use of protective equipment, personal hygiene, food preparation and feeding, social distancing in the home, shopping, travelling to work and other people entering your home.
You can download the document here and find it on our Coronavirus Information and Support Page
