Returning to the Foreshore

Taking part in in monitoring visits in a

COVID-secure way

This guide is for FROG volunteers with Thames Discovery Programme taking part in Thames
foreshore monitoring visits during the COVID-19 outbreak. It covers the steps you need to take
before, during and after the visit, to ensure that they’re safe, welcoming and accessible to all.

We know monitoring visits are an important way to track and record the condition of foreshore
archaeology, as well as being a fantastic way to get outdoors and keep active with other people. It
was difficult for us all when the COVID-19 outbreak forced us to stop all our activities in March 2020.
Thankfully, we’re now starting again, and we’re at the point where we can return to the foreshore.

However, we understand not everyone will be ready to start visiting the foreshore straightaway, and
that’s absolutely fine. There is no obligation to take part in monitoring visits until you’re ready.

If government guidance changes in response to the COVID-19 alert level, or all or part of the Greater
London area is subject to local lockdown restrictions, we’ll update this guidance accordingly.

We’re here to support all our volunteers so if you have any questions, or need
further information, please contact the TDP Team at thamesdiscovery@mola.org.uk

This guide has been put together in consultation with TDP volunteers, based on our Risk Assessment
and Method Statement (RAMS) for Monitoring Visits during the COVID-19 outbreak. It should be
read in conjunction with the latest UK Government COVID-19 guidance – in particular, the guidance
on “Working safely during coronavirus (COVID-19)” and the guidance “Coronavirus: How to help
safely”. It sits alongside the existing health and safety information for FROGs, which is covered on
Day 1 of FROG Training. This guide will be reviewed regularly, particularly when the Government
Guidance is updated. We’ll let FROGs know about any changes and the most up to date version will
always be available on our website: www.thamesdiscovery.org

This guidance was last updated on 3 September 2020.

What’s a monitoring visit?

A visit to one of Thames Discovery Programme’s key sites to record the current state of archaeology
on the foreshore. This is usually done through photographs, notes and using the CITiZAN App.
They’re carried out by a small group of FROG (Foreshore Recording and Observation Group)
volunteers, and sometimes organised by the TDP team, or organised by a group of volunteers.

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Some key sites have established groups who regularly monitor the site, organised by FROG
Coordinators.

Who’s a FROG Coordinator?

A FROG Coordinator is someone who takes on the responsibility for organising monitoring visits at a
particular key site. Every group organises themselves differently. Some groups have one or two
FROG Coordinators working together, other groups share the responsibilities between themselves.

FROG Coordinators will have to take on some new responsibilities to support the procedures we’ve
introduced to help keep everyone safe, particularly to collect information for NHS Test and Trace. If
you share the FROG Coordinator role between a group of people, make sure you’ve agreed who is
going to be responsible for the different tasks.

Summary Checklist

Before the visit:

Everyone:
 Check your personal circumstances
 Plan your journey
 Check the equipment you need, and your mobile phone is charged and working
 Review our health and safety advice and Covid-19 guidance

FROG Coordinators:
 Plan your meeting point
 Identify local facilities
 Check the procedures for NHS Test and Trace

During the visit – Everyone:

 Follow the guidelines on hand hygiene, using equipment and social distancing

After the visit – Everyone:

 Wash hands
 Clean equipment
 If you develop symptoms within 48 hours of the visit, apply for a COVID-19 test, and
support NHS Test and Trace if requested

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 Detailed guidance for FROG Members

Before the visit - For Everyone:

Check your personal circumstances

Before volunteering, everyone should consider their personal circumstances and make the decision
that’s right for them.

 Do you (or someone else from your household) have Covid-19 symptoms or a positive
Covid-19 test?
 Have you been told to self-isolate?
 Is your home subject to local lockdown restrictions?

If so, you should not take part in a monitoring visit under any circumstances.

If you have symptoms of COVID-19—a high temperature, new and persistent cough or loss of your
sense of taste or smell, however mild, you should follow government guidance on self-isolating and
getting a test.

 Are you ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’ to COVID-19?

If you received a letter from your GP or hospital to advise you to take extra precautions during the
peak of the pandemic (i.e. you were shielding until 1 August 2020), you can volunteer and take part
in monitoring visits. But be especially careful and diligent about social distancing and hand hygiene.

Attending monitoring visits may not be the right decision for you at this time. If you’d like to
volunteer from home, get in touch with the TDP Team to find out how you can help.

 Do you want to volunteer, and do you feel safe and comfortable doing so?

Volunteering is a personal choice. There will never be any obligation or pressure to volunteer or take
part if you don’t want to or aren’t able to at this time.

Plan your journey

If you can, cycle or walk to site, otherwise you can travel by public transport or drive.

Limit your journey time on public transport and reduce the number of changes you need to make. As
much as possible, only visit sites with straightforward journeys from your home.

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If you’re travelling on public transport, follow the guidance on social distancing, hand hygiene and
wearing face coverings.

Avoid travelling at rush hour and busy periods. Use journey planning websites or apps to check that
there are no disruptions to your journey and to avoid busy locations.

You shouldn’t travel with anyone outside your household or support bubble, unless you can practise
social distancing. It’s impossible to socially distance in a small vehicle, so don’t lift share with
someone outside your household.

Plan meeting places away from busy areas, and with enough space for the whole group to socially
distance.

Check the equipment you need and that it’s fully charged and working

Don’t share equipment, food or drink.

Make sure your mobile phone, and camera if you’re bringing one, is working and fully charged. Bring
spare batteries or a battery pack if you have them.

TDP Staff and FROG Coordinators will have hand sanitiser, antiseptic wipes, non-latex gloves, spare
trowels and tape measures, but you might want to bring your own to use.

Don’t forget drinking water and suitable clothing for the weather!

Review our health and safety advice and Covid-19 guidance

Make sure you’re familiar with everything in this guidance document. If you’d like more detail, read
our Risk Assessment and Method Statement (RAMS) for Monitoring Visits during the COVID-19
outbreak.

Review the TDP general Health and Safety guidance for visiting the foreshore (we cover this on Day
1 of FROG Training).

If you’d like a refresher on health and safety on the foreshore, sign up for one of our workshops, or
talk to the team. We’re always happy to run through our health and safety procedures with you
again.

Get in touch with the TDP Team if you have any questions or are uncertain about anything in our
procedures.

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 Before the visit - For FROG Coordinators:

Plan the meeting point and time

Choose your start and finish times to avoid anyone travelling at rush hour and other busy periods,
and to avoid meeting in busy areas.

Arrange to meet in locations where there is enough space for the whole group to socially distance,
and room for passers-by to get past. Avoid pavements and narrow sections of the Thames Path.

At some sites, it might be easiest to meet on the foreshore. If you plan to do this, remember no one
should be going on the foreshore alone. Wait until at least two members of the group have arrived
before going down together.

Identify local facilities

Make sure you know where all the access points are on the site you’re visiting, and which ones you’ll
use to access and exit the foreshore, as well as any possible emergency escape routes.

Identify any nearby public toilets or local facilities where the group can wash their hands with soap
and water. The Lockdown Loo website might be helpful: https://www.lockdownloo.com/

Locate the nearest A&E to the site.

Check the procedures for NHS Test and Trace

Plan how you are going to record the names and phone numbers of people who’ve attended for
NHS Test and Trace. The simplest way to do this would be to write the details directly into an email
or note on your phone which you send to the TDP Team.

If you collect the details on a piece of paper, don’t pass it around the group. Write down the
information yourself, clearly so that it’s readable. Store the information in a safe and dry place. Send
it to the TDP Team by scanning it, taking a photograph of it, or typing it up when you are at home.

You must destroy the information immediately once you’ve sent it to the team, this might mean
deleting the sent email, note or photograph, or shredding paper records.

The TDP Team will store this information for 21 days, in line with the NHS Test and Trace guidelines
and in accordance with MOLA’s Data Protection policies.

Taking part in NHS Test and Trace is voluntary, so volunteers don’t have to give their details, but it
will help the spread of COVID-19.

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 During the visit - Everyone:

Hand hygiene:

Be vigilant about hand hygiene at all times. Be mindful about what surfaces you are touching. Avoid
touching your face with your hands.

Avoid touching other people, shaking hands and passing equipment and artefacts to others.

Use hand sanitiser regularly, particularly after touching high-contact surfaces such as handrails,
touching foreshore features, or collecting artefacts. See below for more information on using hand
sanitiser.

Wear non-latex gloves on the foreshore. See below for more information on wearing gloves.

Avoid eating and drinking on the foreshore, but if it’s necessary, use hand sanitiser to clean your
hands first. Don’t share food or drink.

Don’t smoke or use e-cigarettes on the foreshore.

Don’t pass around artefacts you’ve collected from the foreshore. If other people want to look at an
artefact, you should put it in a place where other people can view it without touching, and where
there’s space to maintain 2 metre’s social distancing.

Using Equipment

Don’t share equipment, including trowels, tape measures, pens, pencils and clipboards.

Don’t pass around cameras or mobile phones to look at photographs. You could share pictures by
email or messaging.

If sharing equipment is unavoidable, clean all surfaces first with antiseptic wipes, or hand sanitiser
on a piece of tissue paper.

Social Distancing

Limit monitoring visits to no more than 6 people, including TDP staff and FROG Coordinators.

If more than 6 people turn up on the day, split into two groups and work independently in separate
areas of the foreshore. Remember, no one should work on the foreshore alone.

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Maintain 2 metres social distancing at all times. Take particular care in narrow areas, such as on
stairs and at pinch points. Move through in single-file, avoid talking face-to-face and don’t pass other
people on the stairs.

Avoid areas of the foreshore busy with mudlarks and members of the public. If it’s difficult to work
and keep to 2 metres social distancing, you should move to another area of the foreshore, or cancel
the visit.

You might want to wear a face covering while volunteering.

After the visit - Everyone:

Wash your hands

Clean your hands with sanitiser immediately after leaving the foreshore.

Wash your hands with soap and water as soon as you can, following the NHS advice on hand
washing. Particularly make sure you wash your hands before eating, drinking or smoking.

Clean equipment

After you’ve left the foreshore, clean any equipment you’ve used with antiseptic wipes, or hand
sanitiser on tissue paper. When you’re home, clean equipment with soap or washing up liquid and
water. Use alcoholic cleaners on electronic devices.

Dispose of gloves and used wipes as soon as you can after exiting foreshore. Make sure you don’t
create any more plastic pollution!

Don’t use soap or disinfectant on significant artefacts you are planning to record with the Portable
Antiquities Scheme. Use clean water to clean them, allow them to dry naturally, and leave for at
least three days before touching them. Wash your hands with soap and water after cleaning or
handling artefacts.

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 If you develop symptoms within 48 hours of the visit, apply for a
COVID-19 test, and support NHS Test and Trace if requested

If you develop symptoms or have a positive test result:

If you develop COVID-19 symptoms during the monitoring visit, you must:

 stop work immediately,

 avoid touching anything,
 cough or sneeze into tissue and put it in a bin, or use crook of elbow,
 make arrangements to go home, avoiding public transport if possible
 apply for a COVID-19 test, and support NHS Test and Trace if requested

If you develop symptoms within 48 hours of the visit, self-isolate, apply for a COVID-19 test, and
support NHS Test and Trace if requested.

If you develop COVID-19 symptoms or receive a positive test result within 48 hours of the visit, we
recommend you let the TDP Team know. We’ll let other people who were at the visit know that
someone has developed symptoms, but we won’t disclose your details to other volunteers. NHS Test
and Trace may also contact us directly for details of who was at a visit.

If someone else on the visit develops symptoms or has a positive test result:

The TDP Team will alert the volunteers who attended a visit if we’re informed that a someone who
was there developed COVID-19 symptoms or had a positive test within 48 hours of the visit. We
won’t name the individual concerned.

You don’t need to self-isolate unless you develop symptoms or are asked to do so by NHS Test and
Trace or a public health professional, but you should:

 avoid contact with people at high increased risk of severe illness from coronavirus, such as
people with pre-existing medical conditions
 take extra care in practising social distancing and good hygiene
 watch out for symptoms and self-isolate if you also show signs of coronavirus

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 Using hand sanitiser

Only use hand sanitiser if you can’t wash your hands with soap and water.

 Use enough hand sanitiser to completely cover all the surfaces of each hand.
 Rub your hands together until all the solution has evaporated.
 Don’t wipe off excess solution with a tissue.

Using gloves

Gloves help limit skin contact with contaminated surfaces. They can help reduce your exposure to
viruses, other pathogens and toxins on the foreshore and river water, not just COVID-19.

However, gloves can give you a false sense of security. They help when you are using them in
combination with all our guidance on working safely on the foreshore, which you should take care to
follow. They’re not a replacement for hand washing or using hand sanitiser.

Gloves don’t stop the spread of pathogens from surface to surface as you touch them. Take care not
to touch your face when wearing gloves.

 Clean your hands before putting on gloves.

 Put on the gloves immediately before you go onto the foreshore and remove them as soon
as you leave.
 If you have to remove your gloves, e.g. to use equipment, do not reuse them. Clean your
hands and put on a new pair.
 Before eating or drinking, remove your gloves and clean your hands. Clean your hands
again and put on a fresh pair afterwards.
 If the gloves become contaminated, e.g. river water or mud gets inside them, remove the
gloves, clean your hands, and put on a fresh pair.
 Clean any equipment you have touched when wearing gloves before someone else uses it.
 Clean your hands after you have removed your gloves, and wash them with soap and water
as soon as possible.
 Dispose of all the used gloves in a bin as soon as you can after leaving the foreshore.

If you’re bringing your own gloves, take care that they’re non-latex gloves to protect anyone with a
latex allergy. Bring enough spares so you can change them several times if you need to.

Don’t add to plastic pollution in the river! You might want to bring a spare carrier bag to collect used
gloves and wipes in to throw away later. Used gloves, disposable facemasks and wipes can be
thrown away in a litter bin or your home ‘black waste’ bin.

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 Questions:

I regularly monitor a site a long way from my home, can I still do that?

We’re asking you to limit your journey times as much as possible, particularly on public transport.
But we know many FROGs have been monitoring particular sites regularly and would like to carry on
doing this. Decide if that’s the right choice for you considering your personal circumstances.

If you’re making a long journey on public transport, take extra care:

 follow the guidance on social distancing, hand hygiene and wearing face coverings
 check for any disruptions and busy areas before you travel
 try to keep the journey time as short as possible, with few changes
 choose quieter routes and times to travel
 keep away from busy areas
 consider walking or cycling part of the route if you can

We have key sites across London and you’ll always be welcome on a site nearer your home.

Can we go to a café or pub after the visit?

You can, so long as you follow the current guidelines for mixing with other households indoors or
outdoors. You might prefer to get take away and sit socially distanced in a local park.

I think the risk of COVID-19 is overblown, and I’m not following the advice.

We’re all making our own personal decisions about the risks. But if you are taking part in any
Thames Discovery Programme activity, you MUST follow our Risk Assessment and Method
Statement (RAMS). If you don’t, in the first instance we will remind you of the requirements. If you
continue to not follow the RAMS, we will ask you to stop work and leave site.

If you have concerns about someone’s behaviour during a TDP activity, please let a member of the
staff team know as soon as possible. If you’re not comfortable talking to a member of the team, you
can contact Magnus Copps, Head of Audience Engagement at MOLA: mcopps@mola.org.uk.

I’m subject to a local lockdown, but we’re only restricted from visiting other
people’s homes. Can I come on a monitoring visit?

Our priority is keeping everyone safe and helping to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 in our
communities. We’re asking that everyone who is subject to a local lockdown to not take part in TDP
activities, regardless of the specific restrictions. We hope we’ll be able to see you again on the
foreshore as soon as restrictions in your area are lifted!

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