COVID-19 Update | 16 August 2020

As announced on Friday, 14 August, the South Australian Government will require hospitality and certain retail venues to have a COVID Marshall on premises from Friday, 21 August 2020.

You must have a COVID Marshal if your business or activity is or involves any of the following:

• Hospitality: Any business or activity providing food and/or beverages for on-site consumption to members of the public, including pubs, bars, restaurants, cafés, wineries, cellar doors, dining areas, food courts, etc. This does not include take-away only operators.
• Gyms and fitness centre: Gyms and fitness centres/studios, pilates, yoga, spin, barre, dance and similar studios, health clubs, etc.
• Supermarkets and hardware stores: Includes all retailers including small or independent stores that operate as supermarkets or hardware stores (these are more common in regional areas). However, for these smaller operations, this usually simply means that the floor manager/main staff member on duty would also act as COVID Marshal while at work. As such, this would likely not be onerous.
• Distribution centres: Includes distribution centres and their associated transport operations (e.g. arrival/departure areas, loading/unloading and other activities).
• Businesses or activities that are required to have a COVID Management Plan.

If you have a capacity of 200 people or less then you must have a nominated COVID Marshal. This means that you can nominate one of your regular staff members to also perform the role of COVID Marshal in addition to conducting his/her usual duties.

If you have a capacity of more than 200 then you must have a dedicated COVID Marshal. This means that you must have a staff member on site that only and exclusively performs the role of COVID Marshal during your business or activity’s operations.

Roles and responsibilities of a COVID Marshal

• Training: COVID Marshals must have completed relevant training as prescribed by SA Health. Their business owner/operator or the person in charge of their activity must be able to prove that their COVID Marshal(s) have completed this training, so that they can show this to an authorised officer if requested. This training course will be an approximately 30-minute online course, offered at no cost. The training will be available at http://www.covid-19.sa.gov.au/ shortly.
• Identifiable: COVID Marshals must be visibly and immediately identifiable by their colleagues, SA Police and the public.
• Present and on duty: a COVID Marshal must be on duty while a business or activity is operating or is being conducted. However, for 24/7 operations with staff not always present on-site, a COVID Marshal is only required during any hours of high patronage.
• Take all reasonable action to ensure compliance: a COVID Marshal’s role is to ensure that their business or activity’s COVID-Safe Plan, COVID Management Plan or their local COVID-19 prevention plans, policies or protocols are implemented as best as possible.

While COVID Marshals are not responsible for individual patrons’ behaviour or for their employer’s compliance, their duty (to their employer) is to ensure that all the correct measures contained in their business or activity’s COVID-Safe Plan, COVID Management Plan or other COVID policies or plans are indeed in place, that they are implemented as best as possible, and that he/she takes all reasonable action to ensure that all staff, patrons, contractors and other people on site follow these rules.