From Monday, July 13 in England*, more beauty and physical therapy businesses, such as beauty salons, have been able to reopen safely, provided they meet COVID-19 secure guidelines.

The Government has released updated practical guidance that sets out the measures those providing close contact services should follow to protect themselves, colleagues and clients.

What this means for practitioners/therapists

The updated guidance is also designed for those who provide mobile close contact services from their homes and in other people’s homes, such as massage therapists, so is vital reading for BSY practitioners/therapists.

This guidance can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/close-contact-services – click ‘Download this guidance’ to access a full PDF version of the latest guidance (updated on July 9 at the time of writing).

Only services that do not involve work in the highest risk zone – directly in front of the face – should be made available to clients. Therefore, no treatments are to be provided on the face until Government advice changes.

Where 2 metre social distancing cannot be maintained, for example when providing a permitted treatment, the practitioner/therapist should wear further protection in addition to any that they may usually wear. This should be a clear visor that covers the face, or the use of a screen or other barrier that protects the practitioner/therapist and the client from respiratory droplets caused by sneezing, coughing or speaking.

Further mitigating actions as outlined in the Government’s guidance includes keeping the treatment time as short as possible; considering providing shorter, more basic treatments to keep the time to a minimum, or offering alternative treatments including tutorials to clients where services/treatments cannot be provided.

A risk assessment, which is mandatory for businesses, will enable practitioners/therapists to identify sensible measures to control the risks – much more information on this is included in the latest Government advice.

We strongly recommend that practitioners/therapists check with their insurer that they are covered for returning to practice and check if the insurer requires any evidence of measures practitioners/therapists have taken to ensure they are managing the risks.

If any local restrictions are in place or come into force, practitioners/therapists must also follow all instructions from the local authorities.

You can stay up to date with the latest public health information at:

• https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus (from here you can also access help and advice for businesses and the self-employed)
• https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

*As public health is devolved in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, the Government guidance should be considered alongside local public health and safety requirements and legislation in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. For advice to businesses in other parts of the UK please refer to guidance set by the Northern Ireland Executive, the Scottish Government, and the Welsh Government.

The UK government has announced further changes to lockdown measures that will apply in England from Saturday July 4th 2020.

We are continuing to operate as close to normal as possible within all Government guidelines – with the great majority of our staff continuing to work from home.

We know many of our students studying practitioner courses with a practical training element – for example, courses that have Practical Training days here at our school in Devon, are keen to know when we will be able to start running these sessions.

In line with the latest government guidance, Practical Training at BSY remains postponed until further notice. We will review this in due course as further government announcements are made.

We have also received queries regarding courses for which students keep a record of their class attendance – for example, the Yoga Teacher (Hatha Yoga) course. You are welcome to include details of any virtual classes that you are taking in your attendance record.

As always, we are absolutely committed to our students’ studies – we are continuing to welcome new and past students onto our courses, and are accepting assignments daily by post and email (assignments@bsygroup.co.uk). Our tutors are working hard to mark these and return them as soon as possible.

As we all get used to the ‘new normal’, you can be confident when enrolling or continuing your studies with us that we are striving to provide our usual high level of service.

We will continue to keep in touch with students and communicate any updates as the situation progresses.

We wish you all the very best.

From us all at BSY.

We are continuing to stay in touch with our students during the COVID-19 pandemic with reassurance of our ongoing commitment to their studies.

With the extension of lockdown measures in the UK, we are now getting used to a ‘new normal’, whereby with a handful of exceptions, we are staying at home in order to protect our NHS and save lives.

What this means for us

As a distance learning provider, we are continuing to operate as close to normal as possible within all Government guidelines.

We as a college understand we have a vital part to play in slowing the spread of the virus as we continue to operate and we take this responsibility very seriously. This has included facilitating the great majority of our staff working remotely from their homes.

We continue to welcome new and past students onto our courses. We are currently still receiving postal assignments daily, but please remember you can also submit your assignments by email to assignments@bsygroup.co.uk, this will be marked and returned to you as soon as possible.

What this means for you

As our student services support staff are now working remotely, some of you may experience short delays compared to our usual level of service when contacting us during this time. We kindly ask you to please bear with us – we are doing all we can to continue to support all current and prospective students.

We believe learning can be a great source of comfort and fulfilment and home-study is a great way to make positive use of any free time you may have. We are here to support you and your self-development in any way we can.

We will continue to communicate any updates as the situation progresses. May we wish you and your loved ones all the very best during this period.

From us all at BSY.