The British Safety Council has called on the Health & Safety Executive to strengthen its enforcement of Covid-secure rules in the workplace.
It also calls on the government to provide a funding boost to allow the HSE to carry out this role effectively.
The council says the need is underlined by recent Office for National Statistics figures, which show that Covid deaths are higher among low-paid and manual workers in England and Wales. Almost 8,000 workers have died where it is believed that the cause was directly due to COVID.
However, the HSE considers Covid-19 to be a “significant” health risk, one that causes non-permanent or reversible health effects, rather than a “serious” risk, or one that causes a permanent, progressive or irreversible condition. It has not brought a single prosecution against an employer for breaking COVID-19 rules, the BSC says.
In “an unprecedented global pandemic that has resulted in thousands of workplace deaths, the infection of multiple employees through work-related activities with a potentially fatal disease seems instinctively to be a ‘serious’ health risk”, it adds.
The council admits there is “some merit in HSE’s pragmatic approach, as most employers want to keep their staff safe, and work with the regulator to help resolve complex issues quickly”, and argues “the desire of the government to keep workplaces operational, together with a decade of resource budget cuts, has been a factor in the HSE’s categorisation of the Covid outbreaks in the workplace”.
The council, which campaigns on work-related health issues, calls on the HSE to treat Covid as a “serious” risk, and urges the government to provide the funding necessary for the regulator to increase its capacity to inspect workplaces.
British Safety Council chairman Lawrence Waterman said: “The government has a difficult challenge in balancing the health of the economy with workers’ health and workplace safety, but there are some obvious steps that can be taken to help control the virus. Workplace inspection and enforcement of Covid safety rules is one of these steps. Ensuring the HSE is properly funded to undertake its role is paramount. Keeping workers healthy and safe will help the country to boost its economic recovery once the virus has been brought under control.”