West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust: Coronavirus

(asked on 10th February 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the level of compliance of West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust with the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers covid-19 guidance on ventilation in buildings.


Answered by
Mims Davies Portrait
Mims Davies
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This question was answered on 1st March 2021

The Workplace (Health, Safety & Welfare) Regulations 1992, as amended, requires employers to ensure an adequate supply of fresh air in the workplace. In common with a lot of health and safety legislation, this is a goal setting requirement and therefore does not prescribe how to meet this duty.

As each workplace is different, it is the responsibility of the employer to determine how to achieve this requirement and implement the appropriate measures.

To assist employers the Health and Safety Executive updated their guidance on ventilation during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in December 2020. The guidance provides simple ways to identify areas of the workplace that may be poorly ventilated and provides steps that can be taken to improve ventilation while maintaining a comfortable temperature. It refers those with complex ventilation system, to the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) website.

The CIBSE covid-19 guidance on ventilation in buildings.is a best practice guide primarily intended for application in non-domestic buildings and it specifically excludes health care and hospital buildings, advising that NHS and PHE guidance should be sought.

The relevant guidance for healthcare providers is contained in the Engineering Health Technical Memoranda best practice guidance published by the Department of Health and Social Care (Estates and Facilities Division). The documents give comprehensive advice and guidance to healthcare management, design engineers, estates managers and operations managers on the legal requirements, design implications and maintenance of specialised ventilation in all types of healthcare premises.

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