FEATURE


https://ico.org.uk/global/data-protection-and-coronavirus-information-hub/coronavirus-recovery-data-protection-advice-for-organisations/testing/ https://www.hse.gov.uk/toolbox/workers/home.htm https://www.womblebonddickinson.com/uk/insights/events/key-health-and-safety-considerations-all-employers-post-lockdown


MOVING FORWARD


However, as the phased return to work has progressed, the general tone has changed. HSE is now making it plain that prosecution will be a consideration in appropriate cases. It has reported over 1,000 spot checks after it resumed inspections at the end of May.


If working from home becomes the new normal, resulting in new arrangements for larger numbers of workers than before lockdown, then we expect the HSE to begin to look more rigorously at what measures employers are taking to ensure the safety of these workers.


SOCIAL DISTANCING The two-metre rule has


been relaxed in favour of a one-metre-plus approach. Employers are now advised to maintain a distance of two metres or one metre with risk mitigation where two metres is not viable. The primary objective remains to maintain a two-metre distance where possible.


As employees start returning to work following 100 days in lockdown, the HSE has updated its guidelines to managing workplace safety. Here, Partner Jon Cooper and Managing Associate Ashley Borthwick at law firm Womble Bond Dickinson, outline what businesses need to know.


At the start of lockdown, the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) general approach was to work with employers to ensure compliance and to issue enforcement notices to help secure improvements where appropriate.


The HSE states that shielded workers cannot return to workplaces before at least 31 July 2020 in Scotland, from 1 August 2020 in England and from 16 August 2020 in Wales when shielding is paused.


THE OFFICIAL HSE GUIDELINES ARE AVAILABLE HERE, AND CAN BE SUMMARISED AS:


1. Carry out a COVID-19 risk assessment.


2. Develop cleaning, hand washing and hygiene procedures.


3. Help people to work from home.


4. Maintain two-metres social distancing, where possible.


5. Where people cannot be two-metres apart, manage transmission risk.


VULNERABLE WORKERS Employers should take into specific consideration


any workers who may be particularly vulnerable. This includes ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’ workers who have been advised that they should be shielded by remaining at home and also applies to workers living with someone in the shielded group.


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Businesses need to put in place controls to reduce the risk to those individuals. Every possible step must be taken to enable working from home. If this is not possible, risk assessments need to be regularly reviewed and employers should do everything ‘reasonably practicable’ to protect those workers from harm. This includes offering the option of the safest available on-site roles, enabling social distancing. If employees cannot maintain social distancing, you should carefully assess whether this involves an acceptable level of risk.


PPE - FACE MASKS The guidance remains that the use


of personal protective equipment (PPE), such as face masks and visors, should be a last resort. The guidelines for non-medical workplaces state that the risk of COVID-19 “… needs to be managed through social distancing, hygiene and fixed teams or partnering, not through the use of PPE”.


Employers should stress that the control measures put in place to reduce the spread of COVID-19, such as those relating to hygiene and social distancing, must still be adhered to by those who choose to wear PPE. There is a danger that the use of PPE provides a false sense of security, and may increase the risk of transmission if not used and disposed of appropriately.


It is however recognised that some workers feel more comfortable wearing a face mask even if it’s not required by their employer. Employers are encouraged to support these workers by, for example, providing information regarding their safe use and disposal.


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