Only 1 in 218 workplaces inspected for safety failures during pandemic, TUC finds

• TUC warns of a “crisis of enforcement” which is risking workers’ safety and allowing bad bosses to get away with flagrant abuse
• UK would need an additional 1,797 labour market inspectors to meet international benchmark
• UK is potentially in breach of UK-EU trade agreement because of lack of inspectors, says TUC
• Ahead of indoor hospitality reopening, union body says safety of workers must come first and encourages workers to open windows wherever possible

The TUC has today (Thursday) released new analysis ahead of indoor hospitality reopening, which shows just 1 in 171 workplaces have had a safety or workers’ rights inspection during the pandemic (between March 2020 and April 2021).

For safety inspections alone, the figure is even more stark, with just 1 in 218 workplaces inspected in the same period.

The TUC warns of a “crisis of enforcement” which is risking workers’ safety and allowing bad bosses to get away with flagrant labour rights abuses – adding that the pandemic has highlighted the UK enforcement system’s long-standing deficiencies.

Pandemic health and safety

The TUC says the lack of safety inspections during the pandemic is dangerous and points out that not a single employer has been prosecuted and fined for putting workers or the public at risk of contracting Covid-19

The union body is calling for the government to reverse cuts of the past decade, which it says left us “under-prepared and vulnerable” to the pandemic. The last ten years has seen real term cuts of 50 per cent to the HSE budget, on top of local authority budgets being slashed.

There has also been a dramatic decline in inspections. There were 27 per cent fewer HSE inspections carried out in the UK in 2019 than 2011, amounting to a fall of over 5,700 a year.

As indoor hospitality reopens next week, the TUC is using this analysis to highlight its message that worker safety must come first and says good ventilation is key, telling workers, employers and customers to open a window wherever possible.

Rights abuses at work

The new analysis also reveals that:

• EAS inspections, which check that agency workers are getting their basic rights, halved during the pandemic from the previous year (from 303 to 151);
• HMRC inspections, which check if employers are paying at least the minimum wage, fell by about 20 per cent in the same period (from 3300 to 2740).

The TUC says that for too many workers, basic workplace rights like the national minimum wage, holiday pay and contracted working hours are illusory because there is no effective enforcement. The latest pre-pandemic data shows that nearly half a million workers are paid less than the national minimum wage, and nearly two million employees miss out on holiday pay.

Agency workers, who are often on zero-hours contracts, are particularly vulnerable to their rights being abused. Many have been working in key frontline jobs through the coronavirus crisis, such as in care homes or at testing centres. The union body says that the government should have prioritised maintaining inspections in a safe manner given the way the pandemic has brutally exposed the terrible working conditions, insecurity and low pay many key workers face.

Many furloughed workers have been on less than minimum wage and many have not received this year’s increases in the minimum wage rates. The union body warns there needs to be a step-up in enforcement as coronavirus support is withdrawn to ensure these workers get their full pay when they return to the workplace.

The TUC adds that the government has rowed back on its workers’ rights and enforcement promises. The union body points to “a litany of failures” including the failure to appoint a new Director of Labour Market Enforcement, take any action on its planned single enforcement agency, and to bring forward an employment bill in the Queen’s Speech to boost labour rights.

UK-EU deal breach

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) benchmark for inspectors, which it recommends all countries meet, is for countries to guarantee one inspector per 10,000 workers. From the latest publicly available data, the UK would need an additional 1,797 labour market inspectors to meet this benchmark.

The TUC says that there are simply not enough inspectors to do the work required. For example, there are roughly 40,000 employment agencies operating in the UK, but just 19 EAS inspectors.

The TUC has warned that as a result of this lack of inspectors, the UK is potentially breaching the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement. The agreement stipulates an effective system of domestic enforcement and labour inspections in accordance with its international commitments.

The union body says the government must provide enforcement bodies with “long-term, sustained funding” so they can recruit and train proper workplace inspectors, inspect more workplaces, and prosecute bad bosses who don’t keep their workers safe.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: 

“Everyone deserves dignity and safety at work. But too many are working in dangerous workplaces, at risk of Covid-19, or being illegally paid less than the minimum wage.

“Bad bosses need to know that they can't get away it. But the UK faces a crisis of enforcement.

“Years of cuts to the HSE and huge under-resourcing of other enforcement bodies has left us vulnerable and ill-prepared for the pandemic.

“It’s staggering that not a single employer has been prosecuted and fined for putting workers at risk of contracting Covid-19.

“The government must fund enforcement bodies properly so they can recruit and train qualified workplace inspectors, inspect more workplaces, and prosecute bad bosses who don’t keep their workers safe.”

On safe reopening on 17 May:

“As indoor hospitality reopens next week, workers’ safety must come first.

“Good ventilation is critical. All tasks that can be completed outside should be. And every workplace should have their doors and windows wide open.

“If workplaces aren’t Covid-secure, coronavirus cases could rebound again. High vaccination rates are no excuse for employers to slack on safety at work.

“And the government should make sure everyone can afford to self-isolate if they need to. That means making sure everyone can get statutory sick pay, and raising it to the level of the real Living Wage.”