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Risks: Union health and safety news - Number 997 - 19 May 2021

Issue date

Risks is the TUC's weekly newsletter for safety reps and others, sponsored by Thompsons Solicitors.

UNION COVID-19 ACTION AND RESOURCES OTHER NEWS INTERNATIONAL NEWS  

UNION COVID-19 ACTION AND RESOURCES

Workers’ safety must come first on reopening - TUC

As millions of people were given the official green light for indoor pints and meals, hugs with loved ones and foreign holidays under separate easing of restrictions across England, Wales and Scotland, the TUC has warned that the safety of workers must be a priority. Commenting on the reopening of indoor hospitality on 17 May, TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “As indoor hospitality reopens, 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.” She added: “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.” The TUC call came amid concerns increased over rising numbers of cases of the India variant of Covid-19. As part of its roadmap out of lockdown, the UK government has said its plan is to end all remaining restrictions on social contact by 21 June.
TUC news release.
 

‘Covid complacency’ warning as hospitality opens up

The public must keep up their guard when eating and drinking inside restaurants, pubs and fast food outlets, Unite has said. Commenting ahead of lockdown restrictions easing on 17 May, the union said its survey had revealed hospitality staff are worried about social distancing. Unite, which represents hospitality, catering and hotel staff, urged customers not to be complacent and to respect waiting staff, especially as concerns about the Indian variant of Covid-19 grow. The union said its ongoing survey of members at McDonald’s and Domino’s Pizza shows that lack of social distancing between colleagues and customers, as well as lack of sick pay if forced to self-isolate, remain major concerns. Unite national officer with responsibility for hospitality Dave Turnbull said “there is a no room for complacency from the public as there seems to be a widespread perception that the crisis is now over – with the alarming news about the spread of the Indian variant this is far from true. Our message to customers is simple: ‘Have a great time, but please respect your waiting staff, bartenders and counter service workers’.” The Unite official added: “Our members are concerned about the possible lack of social distancing between colleagues and customers, as well as lack of sick pay if forced to self-isolate.  Unite will be keeping a close watch on how our hospitality members are faring in the weeks and months ahead – and will take the necessary action with the employer over any concerns that are raised.” The majority of workers at McDonald’s (75 per cent) and Domino’s (87 per cent) expressed concern about a lack of social distancing from colleagues. Half of McDonald’s workers (50 per cent) and 44 per cent of Domino’s workers also said there was a lack of sick pay for symptomatic workers.
Unite news release. BBC News Online.
 

Government must increase self-isolation support

The UK government must increase self-isolation support to ensure the success of the vaccine rollout, the Nuffield Trust and the Resolution Foundation have said. The thinktanks warned that boosting compliance with self-isolation rules is critical to resist the threats posed by new variants of coronavirus and rising cases as restrictions continue to ease. Asking people with Covid-19 to self-isolate is vital to keep the pandemic under control as lockdown measures ease, yet only 52 per cent of people who have symptoms isolate, the researchers said. The joint briefing paper proposes a modified version of the Job Retention Scheme that would allow employers to apply for capped grants to cover the lost wages of any employee needing to self-isolate. Self-employed workers should be able to access similar levels of support through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, the report adds. The proposal would cost the government £39 million a month if it were to cover 100 per cent of wages capped at an equivalent of £2,500 a month, equal to the cap within the current furlough scheme. Nuffield Trust senior fellow Sarah Reed said that support for people self-isolating has been a “blind spot” in the government’s response to the pandemic. She warned that there were risks ahead as case numbers were expected to rise with further easing of lockdown restrictions. Resolution Foundation chief economist Mike Brewer said: “The UK’s failure to financially support workers who need to self-isolate has severely hampered efforts to curb the spread of the virus.”
Nuffield Trust news release. Tackling Covid-19: A case for better financial support to self-isolate, Sarah Reed, William Palmer, Mike Brewer and Maja Gustafsson, Nuffield Trust/Resolution Foundation, May 2021. Morning Star.
 

Long Covid compensation decision could take a year

A decision about whether key workers with long Covid should get compensation could take more than a year, government advisers have told the BBC. The admission comes after 65 MPs and peers wrote to Boris Johnson asking for the illness to be made an ‘occupational disease’ eligible for state compensation. More than a million people in the UK are thought to have long Covid, including over 120,000 healthcare workers. While NHS staff with long Covid receive full pay for a year in England and Wales - and longer in Scotland and Northern Ireland - many in the private sector only get 28 weeks Statutory Sick Pay, and many insecure and low paid workers do not qualify for even this. Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, who chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group on Coronavirus, said she wants long Covid to be classed as an 'occupational disease' which would allow sufferers to be awarded a benefit according to their degree of disability - called an Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB). “These are the very people we should be supporting the most - they aren't just the people who went out and did the jobs that needed to be done, they are also the people that got sick from it. It is only right the government now looks after their lives if they've been affected by long Covid - that they are compensated and this would be according to their need at the time.” But the body that advises the government whether it should classify an illness as an 'occupational disease' has told BBC Radio 4’s File on 4 such a recommendation could take a year. Dr Lesley Rushton, who chairs the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC), said IIAC is hampered by a lack of research and data and whilst they realise some occupations are more risky than others, a major issue is proving someone got Covid through their work. Once a recommendation has been made to the government, it would then have to go through parliament to be become legislation. However, many other national and regional jurisdictions already provide this compensation coverage for Covid-19 and long Covid.
BBC News Online. File on 4: The Cost of Long Covid, 18 May 2021.
 

Most workers worldwide missing out on Covid support

Just two per cent of the world’s workers are getting the sick pay, wage replacement and social benefits they need to withstand the impacts of Covid-19, a new study from the global union UNI and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has found. The first global analysis of Covid-19 support for workers ranks the levels of worker compensation, social security programmes and public health systems in 181 national and regional jurisdictions. Just over half (98 jurisdictions) recognise Covid-19 as an occupational disease through a formal regulatory process, enabling people who have contracted coronavirus at work access to social protections and entitlements — such as sick pay, medical care, and wage replacement — that would otherwise be denied. The report says recognition is particularly important for workers who suffer from long-Covid and other ongoing complications from the disease. Only ten jurisdictions (5.5 per cent) received top ratings indicating good or very good provisions for wage replacement, medical treatment, sick pay, and death benefits. Only 6 per cent had presumptive rules, regulations, laws or policies giving automatic access to medical treatment and wage replacement for all workers with Covid-19. However, when considering healthcare workers alone, this percentage rose to 17 per cent. Christy Hoffman, general secretary of UNI, the global union covering care workers, said: “Governments are failing the frontline workers who are supporting our communities during the pandemic by forcing them to shoulder the physical, psychological and financial burdens of Covid-19 on their own.” Sharan Burrow, the ITUC’s general secretary, said “we call on the International Labour Organisation to recognise Covid-19 as an occupational disease urgently, as part of the drive towards making occupational health and safety a fundamental right.” The UK did not make Europe’s top 10 in the UNI/ITUC ranking.
ITUC news release. UNI news release. UNI/ITUC report, COVID-19: An Occupational Disease - Where frontline workers are best protected, 18 May 2021.
 

RMT calls for zero tolerance of Covid safety breaches

As lockdown measures eased from 17 May and with passenger numbers set to rise, transport union RMT has warned transport staff safety must not be compromised. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “The government and transport authorities must be clear to the travelling public about the importance of observing public transport Covid regulations - passengers need to be told they must comply with measures such as face masks to protect passengers and workers and to prevent the virus spreading.” He added: “There should be zero tolerance of any breach of transport Covid safety rules or abuse of transport staff who have been key workers heroes throughout the pandemic. Transport workers have the right to go to work - and not be assaulted. Transport employers must do all they can to ensure compliance and the responsibility for enforcement of these rules should not fall on rail staff.” The RMT leader concluded: “RMT supports a recovery in public transport but this must be done in a safe and sustainable way.”
RMT news release.
 

Imposed jobcentre return ‘irresponsible’ says PCS

An increase in face to face activity at jobcentres imposed by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) from 17 May has been described as ‘irresponsible’ by PCS. The civil service union said it had received reports that work coaches have been told they must carry out up to nine face to face interviews each day. Last autumn after a PCS campaign, DWP signed up to “empowering” work coaches, enabling them to decide how best to progress their own caseload and decide who to meet for face to face appointments. However, many PCS members who are work coaches have told the union that their line managers are putting pressure on them to return to the office and to change phone appointments to face to face appointments. The previous extension to face to face services, which started on 12 April despite PCS’s opposition on health and safety grounds, led to increased office closures and a PCS consultative ballot on safety. The union said: “Since face to face contact was extended on 12 April we have been receiving regular notifications of Covid-related office closures, proving that it is still not safe.” It added: “PCS believes that it is irresponsible to insist on this further increase in face to face contact, particularly while there are rises in infection rates due to new variants, which may lead to renewed localised lock-downs. We are currently balloting members who work in jobcentres over safety in a consultative ballot. The ballot closes on 21 May.”
PCS news release, update and e-action asking the Secretary of State for DWP to support safe working in jobcentres.
 

DVLA must address PCS safety fears - MPs

DVLA must strike a deal to address the health and safety fears of staff at its Covid-19 hit Swansea offices, six local MPs have said. PCS members, who are still being made to attend the DVLA’s Swansea site, have so far held two 4-day strikes over health and safety concerns (Risks 995). After some progress was made, action scheduled for this week was suspended to allow for further talks. A strike by all PCS members at DVLA at the site, regardless of whether or not they are being called into work, is still planned for 24-28 May, the union said. The support from local MPs came in a letter to DVLA chief executive Julie Lennard. The MPs - Tonia Antoniazzi (Gower), Geraint Davies (Swansea West), Nia Griffith (Llanelli), Christina Rees (Neath), Carolyn Harris (Swansea East) and Stephen Kinnock (Aberavon) - wrote that they were “encouraged to hear that a proposal to return more staff physically to your offices this week has been postponed.” They added: “It is vital that staff safety is prioritised which will only be achieved by continued home working arrangements to ensure staff numbers on site remain at reduced capacity. Any deal must address the fears of employees about health and safety procedures at all of the agency’s sites, consider the impact of issues caused by Covid and long-Covid, and ensure that lessons are learned so that employees are kept safe should further waves of the pandemic occur.”
PCS news release.
 

‘Significant concessions’ won in dispute over court safety

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has made ‘significant concessions’ on court safety in England and Wales. PCS said the new measures it secured in negotiations with CPS to address Covid-19 risks now brings the dispute to an end. The union said the new deal includes a joint review and agreement of what constitutes business critical work and an agreement that attendance at court on should be on an exceptional and voluntary basis. It also includes a framework for triaging cases from both a legal and a safety perspective, accepting cases should only be listed if safety measures can be maintained. The courts and tribunal service (HMCTS) must now carry out a risk assessment for each individual court building and share the findings with CPS staff 48 hours prior to the hearing. CPS must also carry out a risk assessment for every court, which must be conducted in advance of the hearing date and shared with staff and trade unions 48 hours prior to the hearing.
PCS news release.
 

Covid inquiry next year welcome but way too late

Unions have welcomed the UK government’s announcement there will be an independent public inquiry into its response to the Covid-19 pandemic, but have questioned why it is being delayed to next year and its scope. Commenting on the announcement by prime minister Boris Johnson on 12 May that an inquiry into the pandemic will not begin until spring 2022, UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said: “Launching the public inquiry next spring is way too late. It must begin while experiences are still fresh in everyone’s minds. People have already waited long enough. The government owes answers to the workers, the public and the families of those who have lost their lives.” She added: “A return to something resembling normality is what people want and deserve. But this can’t happen until it’s clear what went wrong, how the government could have done things differently and where the responsibility lies for any mistakes.” GMB national secretary Rehana Azam said: “I’ve written to the prime minister three times since June and spoke to his ministers several times over the past year calling for a public inquiry. GMB cautiously welcomes the fact he has finally listened. But millions of workers were put in harm’s ways and thousands died. We need answers and we need justice for all the families who lost loved ones. The prime minister must now set out the terms of reference, including an exact date, without dragging his heels.”  Dr Patrick Roach, general secretary of the teaching union NASUWT, said: “The public inquiry must examine whether enough was done to limit the spread of Covid-19 in workplaces and in communities and whether the measures put in place by government and employers were adequate and based on evidence. Lessons must be learned and action taken swiftly given the continuing threat posed by the coronavirus.” A 19 May National Audit Office (NAO) report is strongly critical of the government response to the pandemic which it said led to PPE shortages. From March to July last year, NHS trusts received just 80 per cent of their estimated requirements for protective equipment and care providers just 10 per cent, NAO said.
GMB news release. NASUWT news release. UNISON news release. The Guardian and related story. BBC News Online and related story.
NAO news release. Initial learning from the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, NAO, 19 May 2021.
 

OTHER NEWS

Flexible working should be available for all workers

The rise of homeworking for office workers must not lead to ‘new inequalities’, the TUC has warned. A new TUC analysis of Labour Force Survey (LFS) statistics suggests that permanent home working may have doubled from 6.7 per cent in 2019 to 12.2 per cent in 2020. While the TUC believes caution is necessary on specific figures for the current scale of permanent homeworking, it says all indications point to working from home and hybrid working being significantly higher after the pandemic than before. It adds as more workplaces reopen, employers will have to negotiate new working patterns amid changed worker and employer expectations. The union body warns of “a new class divide” between those who were able to work from home in the pandemic, who will find it easier to achieve more flexible working patterns in the future, and those who worked from workplaces or were furloughed, who may have fewer options for flexible working patterns. It is calling on the government to strengthen all workers’ rights to flexible working. TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said “a sole focus on homeworking rights would create new inequalities for those who cannot easily work from home. All workers need stronger rights to the full range of flexible working options like flexitime, predictable shifts and job shares.” She added: “The prime minister’s failure to include an employment bill in his legislative programme is a colossal failure to address the needs of working people. He must bring forward new rights to flexible working without delay. And he must urge employers to think through how they can offer a range of flexible working patterns to all their workers, whether based in a workplace or not.”
TUC news release. Homeworking in the UK Labour Market: 2020, ONS, 17 May 2021. Work Wise UK. Morning Star. The Guardian.
 

Disability discrimination success for MoD worker

A Prospect member who suffered a work-related physical and mental health breakdown has been awarded a five-figure sum in a disability discrimination case against the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Operations manager Paul Hollands has complex musculoskeletal conditions and required modified equipment and auxiliary aids to continue with his job, not all of which his employer agreed to provide. As his health suffered further, Paul took time off work on sick leave and his employer started the formal sickness absence procedure. This resulted in Paul receiving a disciplinary penalty, which was subsequently withdrawn on appeal. The situation became critical when the pandemic and lockdown required Paul to work from home. His requests for appropriate equipment, or for special leave, were initially refused. Prospect advised him to present a claim to the employment tribunal on the grounds of disability discrimination. The MoD eventually agreed to find Paul a new more suitable role and to settle the claim for a five-figure sum. Paul, who is president of his Prospect branch, said: “Being a member of a trade union is just so important, it has possibly literally saved my life and I am so proud to be a Prospect member!” Prospect negotiations officer Julie Flanagan commented: “Paul’s case was an outrageous demonstration of the failure by management to support a disabled member of staff, leading to a breakdown in physical and mental health. I am delighted that Prospect’s actions on Paul’s behalf has resulted in a positive outcome.”
Prospect news release.
 

Call for safeguards against harassment on set

Broadcasters and production companies must take action to safeguard workers from bullying and harassment on sets, a union leader has said. In her address to the union’s conference this week, Bectu leader Philippa Childs, speaking in the wake of a series of high profile scandals in the sector, called for the industry to step up. She said: “Bectu is clear. Studios, broadcasters and production companies must put their money where their mouth is to tackle bullying and harassment wherever it occurs and however powerful the perpetrators.” She added: “If money can be found to fund Covid Supervisors, then money can be found to fund a safeguarding officer who is on set, trained and experienced. There to support the workforce and empowered to root out bullying and harassment and identify perpetrators. Unless we take this moment to demand action then nothing will change.”
Bectu news release.
 

Shopworkers are owed better protection says Usdaw

Retail trade union Usdaw has said it listened in disbelief as a government minister accepted that police responses suffer because of a lack of resources and capacity - but couldn’t recognise the impact of losing of 20,000 police officers due to Conservative austerity cuts. Policing minister Kit Malthouse MP was quizzed on 12 May by the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee on violence, threats and abuse of shopworkers. Questioned by committee chair Yvette Cooper, the minister accepted the police lacked resources and said that recruiting more officers could make a difference. However, the minister refused to admit that cutting police numbers had contributed to increased retail crime and abuse of shopworkers. Paddy Lillis, Usdaw general secretary, commenting after the committee session, said: “We have long said that reducing police numbers contributes to increased retail crime and abuse of shopworkers, we know that those government cuts were a grave error judgment. The minister should have come clean today and acknowledged that is the reason the government is now reinstating the 20,000 they cut over the last 10 years. It beggar’s belief that the minister says that more police will help, but would not accept that fewer police had hindered.” He added that the minister “knows that too many cases go unreported simply because shopworkers don’t have the confidence that they will get a response from the police or that appropriate action will be taken in the courts. Creating a specific law to protect shopworkers will give them more confidence to report assaults and abuse.”
Usdaw news release. House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee Inquiry.
 

Boss jailed for failing to report lost leg

A builder has been imprisoned for 24 weeks after he failed to report a serious incident at a construction site which led to a worker’s leg being amputated. Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard that on 8 January 2019, Simon Lewis had been clearing a site in New Malden with an excavator so a new house could be built. The excavator tipped while digging and trapped his leg, resulting in an amputation. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Mr Lewis had no formal training for operating excavators. Paul Adams, who was responsible for work on the site, had not investigated the incident or reported it to HSE within ten days, as required by law. HSE was only able to start an investigation more than eight months later when the victim complained. The regulator said by this time crucial evidence relating to the cause of the incident was unobtainable and the work was almost completed. There was no health and safety related documentation and there was no employer’s insurance to cover any payout to Mr Lewis. Adams had not obtained any health and safety related training during his 50 years in the construction industry, HSE found. Trading as Surrey Conversions, Adams pleaded guilty to a criminal breach of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR). He was handed a 24-week jail sentence and was ordered to pay costs of £2,033. HSE inspector Andrew Verrall-Withers said: “The judge noted Mr Adams had not reported the incident even when prompted to by a solicitor, and that despite his construction experience he had failed to take any interest in understanding his legal duties nor invest in health and safety.” He added: “The judge commented on how distressing it must have been for Mr Lewis on top of his life changing injury, to know the incident was not being investigated.”
HSE news release. Construction Enquirer.
 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Australia: Queensland emergency workers win PTSD cover

Emergency service workers in the Australian state of Queensland no longer need to prove they developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) while on the job. In a big union win, the Workers Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2020 passed this month allows workers’ compensation claims by first responders diagnosed with PTSD to be deemed work-related so they can get immediate treatment and benefits. The United Workers Union’s national ambulance coordinator Fiona Scalon said: “Queensland’s dedicated ambulance officers are regularly in extremely difficult and challenging situations. Until these new laws passed, claiming PTSD through workers’ compensation has been stressful and challenging for our members who could face rejected PTSD claims and be forced to relive traumatic workplace events in the process.” She said the legal changes “will ensure this won’t happen again. Moving forwards, this allows ambulance officers to feel more confident to seek treatment earlier and is the next step in breaking down the stigma perceived in the workplace.”
United Workers Union news release.
 

Global: Long working hours are a major heart killer

Long working hours are killing hundreds of thousands of people a year, according to UN agencies. The first global study of its kind showed 745,000 people died in 2016 from stroke and heart disease due to long working hours. The report for the UN’s World Health Organisation (WHO) and International Labour Organisation (ILO) warned the trend may worsen due to the coronavirus pandemic. The research found that working 55 hours or more a week was associated with a 35 per cent higher risk of stroke and a 17 per cent higher risk of dying from heart disease, compared with a working week of 35 to 40 hours. The study also showed almost threequarters of those that died as a result of working long hours were middle-aged or older men. Often, the deaths occurred much later in life, sometimes decades later, than when the excessive hours were worked. WHO and ILO estimate that worldwide, in 2016, 398,000 people died from stroke and 347,000 from heart disease as a result of having worked at least 55 hours a week. Between 2000 and 2016, the number of deaths from heart disease due to working long hours increased by 42 per cent, and from stroke by 19 per cent. The study noted that with working long hours now known to be responsible for about one-third of the total estimated work-related burden of disease, it is established as the risk factor with the largest occupational disease burden. The number of people working long hours is increasing, and currently stands at 9 per cent of the total population globally, the report noted. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, said: “No job is worth the risk of stroke or heart disease. Governments, employers and workers need to work together to agree on limits to protect the health of workers.” Vera Paquete-Perdigão, the director of ILO’s department of governance and tripartism, said: “Working long hours can lead to numerous mental, physical and social effects. Governments should take this issue very seriously.” She added: “The Covid-19 pandemic has worsened the situation, as workers can be affected by additional psychosocial hazards arising from the uncertainty of the work situation and longer working hours.”

ILO news release. WHO news release. Frank Pega, Bálint Náfrádi, Natalie C Momena and others. Global, regional, and national burdens of ischemic heart disease and stroke attributable to exposure to long working hours for 194 countries, 2000–2016: A systematic analysis from the WHO/ILO Joint Estimates of the Work-related Burden of Disease and Injury, Environment International, online 17 May 2021, Corrected Proof. BBC News Online.
 

Global: ITUC welcomes independent panel Covid report

The ‘far-reaching and essential’ recommendations of the Independent Panel on Pandemic Preparedness and Response (IPPPR) have been welcomed by the global union confederation ITUC. The union body said it backs the panel’s vital and urgent call for sharing wealth, productive capacity and intellectual property. As well as a raft of reforms to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the UN agency that commissioned the panel, the report said WHO needs to rely more on the International Labour Organisation (ILO), another UN agency, to ensure that jobs and workers are protected from future pandemics. It added WHO should consult with unions and employers more effectively and consistently about how to manage pandemics in, and their effect on, workplaces. ITUC general secretary Sharan Burrow said: “There is justified praise in the report for frontline health workers, and a recognition for the many other workers – in food production, distribution and retailing, and in transport, education and care, with low pay exacerbating the threat of infection – all of whom have also gone above and beyond to care for and provide for others. Workplaces have been major sites of infection and have suffered from the necessary steps taken to tackle the pandemic.” But she added major changes must be introduced so lessons are not forgotten. “Public health needs better funding so that people’s health does not depend on how rich they or their country are. But we also need a New Social Contract to underpin recovery and resilience, and occupational health and safety must be recognised as a fundamental right at work,” the ITUC leader said.
ITUC news release.  COVID-19: Make it the Last Pandemic, Independent Panel on Pandemic Preparedness and Response (IPPPR), 12 May 2021. Report website and summary. The Guardian.
 

USA: Union role in Covid prevention confirmed again

Union-negotiated improvements led to a significant reduction in Covid-19 infection rates in grocery workers, a study has found. Union representatives with the union UFCW from 319 stores completed 1,612 in-store surveys to assess compliance between 23 April 2020 and 31 August 2020. Employers provided the union with lists of workers confirmed to have Covid-19 infection through to 31 December 2020. The study authors, writing in the journal New Solutions, note: “In this study, the UFCW had made a number of important efforts to reduce the risk of infection to its members. First, it negotiated paid sick leave that provided workers with the ability to stay home following infection or close exposure without facing lost wages, encouraging symptom reporting and testing. Although some safety measures were universally applied and therefore difficult to assess for relative effectiveness, the safety surveys documented a wide range of compliance with some practices, among them management enforcement of customer mask usage.  Our findings of improved outcomes among workers in stores in which customer mask use was enforced by management as well as the appearance of changes in the rate of both store and county rates following early mask mandates support previous findings.” The authors note: “This report supports reported work in long-term care facilities that demonstrated the importance of unions in reducing adverse effects from the Covid-19 pandemic [Risks 981].” They conclude: “This report supports the importance of union-negotiated safety and health measures during the pandemic and suggests the importance of labour–management cooperation,” adding: “Stores that responded positively to worker complaints also had better outcomes. The union is currently engaging to promote improved ventilation and vaccination uptake.”
Nancy A Crowell, Alan Hanson, Louisa Boudreau, Robyn Robbins, and Rosemary K Sokas. Union Efforts to Reduce Covid-19 Infections Among Grocery Store Workers, New Solutions, published online 8 May 2021. doi: 10.1177/10482911211015676
Adam Dean, Atheendar Venkataramani, and Simeon Kimmel. Mortality Rates From COVID-19 Are Lower In Unionized Nursing Homes, Health Affairs, volume 39, number 11, pages 1993-2001, September 2020.
 

PUBLICATION

TUC Hazards at Work 6th Edition

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This is the Sixth edition of the TUC's best selling guide to health and safety at work.

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The book also contains HSE and other guidance, extensive checklists, case studies and web resources.
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