A TUC survey of more than 2,000 workplace safety representatives has found that many employers are failing to follow Covid-secure rules and keep workers safe. As a result, they are being put at risk of infection and avoidable illness.
More than a quarter of safety representatives said they were not aware of a formal risk assessment having been carried out in their workplace in the last two years. One in ten said their employer had not carried out a risk assessment, while 17 per cent said they did not know whether a risk assessment had been done. Of those who said their employers had done one, more than a fifth said they were inadequate.
In terms of outbreaks at work, 83 per cent of representatives said there had been employees who had tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) in their workplace, while more than half (57 per cent) saying that their workplaces had seen a “significant” number of cases.
Conversely, only 24 per cent of respondents said their workplace had been contacted by a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector or other relevant safety inspector in the last 12 months. Indeed, 22 per cent reported that, as far as they were aware, their workplace had never been visited by an HSE inspector.
A quarter of representatives said their employer did not always implement physical distancing between colleagues through social distancing or physical barriers; while just over a fifth said their employer did not always implement appropriate physical distancing between employees and customers, clients or patients.
As for personal protective equipment, 35 per cent of reps said that their employer had not always provided adequate supplies.
Almost two thirds of safety representatives said they were dealing with an increased number of mental health concerns since the pandemic began, with 76 per cent citing stress as a workplace hazard.
Read the report in full here.