Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2022 to Question 61899 on Offshore Industry: North Sea, if he will publish the terms of reference for the Asset Integrity Task Group.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
In March 2021 Offshore Energy UK (OEUK) arranged a workshop involving representatives from North Sea operators, Suppliers, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to discuss the increasing trend of maintenance backlogs within the offshore sector. This became the Maintenance Backlog Working Group (MBWG). The terms of reference are given in Appendix B of OEUK’s published guidance “OEUK’s Maintenance Backlog Measurement, Interpretation and Management Guideline”. During the coronavirus pandemic it was determined that the MBWG should be the principal asset integrity focus, and it is now part of the Asset Integrity Task Group (AITG).
The AITG has met twice in 2022 with another meeting planned for 30 November 2022.
Duty holders represented on the AITG are BP, Petrofac, CNOOC, Repsol Sinopec, EnQuest, Serica, Equinor, SRCN Solutions Ltd, Harbour Energy, Shell, Ithaca, Spirit Energy, Neptune Energy, TAQA, ODE Asset Management, TotalEnergies, Perenco and Wood.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2022 to Question 61899, which duty holders are represented on the Asset Integrity Task Group; and how many times that group has met to date in 2022.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
In March 2021 Offshore Energy UK (OEUK) arranged a workshop involving representatives from North Sea operators, Suppliers, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to discuss the increasing trend of maintenance backlogs within the offshore sector. This became the Maintenance Backlog Working Group (MBWG). The terms of reference are given in Appendix B of OEUK’s published guidance “OEUK’s Maintenance Backlog Measurement, Interpretation and Management Guideline”. During the coronavirus pandemic it was determined that the MBWG should be the principal asset integrity focus, and it is now part of the Asset Integrity Task Group (AITG).
The AITG has met twice in 2022 with another meeting planned for 30 November 2022.
Duty holders represented on the AITG are BP, Petrofac, CNOOC, Repsol Sinopec, EnQuest, Serica, Equinor, SRCN Solutions Ltd, Harbour Energy, Shell, Ithaca, Spirit Energy, Neptune Energy, TAQA, ODE Asset Management, TotalEnergies, Perenco and Wood.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to encourage employers to undertake covid-19 health and safety risk assessments for severely immunocompromised employees.
Answered by Chloe Smith
COVID-19 remains a public health issue. There is no longer a requirement for every business to consider COVID-19 in their risk assessment or have COVID-19 control measures in place. The United Kingdom Health Security Agency has published guidance on reducing the spread of respiratory infections, including COVID-19, in the workplace.
For people in England who are immunosuppressed (including employees), the Department of Health and Social Care has published guidance entitled: ‘COVID-19: guidance for people whose immune system means they are at higher risk’.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance her Department is issuing to employers to support their immunocompromised staff to work safely from their place of work after the existing covid-19 infection control measures are lifted.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The Department of Health and Social Care have the lead and alongside UK Health Security Agency released guidance on COVID-19: guidance for people whose immune system means they are at higher risk . This was most recently updated on 25 February 2022. In order to assist employers, the Health and Safety Executive provides a link to this guidance on its website.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she has taken to increase health and safety enforcement in response to the omicron variant of covid-19.
Answered by Chloe Smith
In 2021/22 the Government provided an additional £14m to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to continue its’ programme of spot checks on compliance, to ensure businesses are protecting workers from COVID-19. The focus of the compliance checks is reviewed and adapted in line with Government advice and the different approaches taken in England, Scotland and Wales; most recently, in response to the omicron variant.
Businesses must still control the risks and review and update their risk assessments, taking into the account their statutory obligations, the public health guidance in their own nation, and the requirement to consult their workers.
Since the start of the pandemic, HSE has carried out more than 380,000 interventions to check how businesses are implementing measures to reduce transmission of COVID-19 at their sites. Where contraventions are identified and to ensure standards are being met, inspectors continue to take enforcement action, in line with HSE’s published Enforcement Policy Statement
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment has she undertaken of the effect biological cleaning systems can have on (a) personal sensitisation, (b) sanitising work and (c) social places as part of work to reduce the spread of the covid-19 virus.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has taken the context of this question to mean that the term biological cleaning systems are the use of industrial enzymes (microbial and other animal sources) that are added to certain specialised healthcare and industrial cleaning products, typically used to pre-treat/clean equipment surfaces prior to finally cleaning or disinfection. HSE is not aware of the use of any biological cleaning systems like these being used to reduce the spread of COVID-19. HSE does provides guidance on Cleaning, hygiene and handwashing to reduce coronavirus (COVID-19) transmission (hse.gov.uk) as well as Disinfecting using fog, mist and other systems during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic (hse.gov.uk).’
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to produce guidance for employers, to accompany the lifting of COVID-19 related restrictions on 19 July, about the health and safety of employees who are immunocompromised or immunosuppressed and therefore not protected by the COVID-19 vaccine.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
Throughout the pandemic, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has encouraged businesses to manage risks in order to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 in workplaces through the provision of detailed guidance. HSE published updated guidance on 19 July - Keeping workplaces safe as coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions are removed (which can be found at https://www.hse.gov.uk/coronavirus/roadmap-further-guidance.htm) - to reflect changes as a result of the lifting of coronavirus restrictions in England.
HSE does not consider vaccination of employees to be a workplace control. Businesses must control the risks and review and update their risk assessment to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 by providing adequate ventilation, regular cleaning and frequent handwashing. Businesses can also continue to reduce the risk of transmission during the pandemic by taking measures to limit the number of people their workers are in contact with, and UK government guidance on working safely (which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-covid-19) provides further information and advice on these measures covering a range of different types of work.
Employers’ health and safety responsibilities include taking reasonable steps to protect all workers and others from the risk of transmission of COVID-19 in connection with their work activities. As these control measures apply to all workers, regardless of their relative levels of vulnerability or the potential outcome, there are no expectations of additional control measures for Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV) workers or the need for individual risk assessments.
HSE advises employers to have individual discussions with their CEV employees about any workplace concerns and understand what is in place to protect them. There is specific guidance on the HSE website to support employers to do this https://www.hse.gov.uk/coronavirus/working-safely/protect-people.htm
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that employers (a) follow the latest covid-19 guidelines for workplaces and (b) ensure that workplaces are safe for extremely clinically vulnerable employees.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Throughout the pandemic, HSE has encouraged businesses to manage risks in order to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 in workplaces; including through the provision of detailed guidance (https://www.hse.gov.uk/coronavirus/working-safely/index.htm). This includes guidance on the importance of cleaning, hygiene and handwashing, providing adequate ventilation and social distancing (to note, measures on social distancing are subject to imminent change due to the easing of restrictions across the UK).
HSE and Local Authorities use a range of interventions to influence, encourage and advise business and, where necessary, hold to account those who fail to meet their responsibilities. Throughout the pandemic, HSE has engaged with businesses through the three stage Spot Check process which includes phone calls and, where face to face contact is necessary, site visits. Determining whether businesses have implemented the controls identified by this risk assessment is a central part of the process.
Employers’ health and safety responsibilities include taking reasonable steps to protect all workers and others from the risk of transmission of COVID-19 in connection with their work activities. As these control measures apply to all workers, regardless of their relative levels of vulnerability or the potential outcome, there are no expectations of additional control measures for Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV) workers or the need for individual risk assessments.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) advises employers to have individual discussions with their CEV employees about any workplace concerns and understand what is in place to protect them. There is specific guidance on the HSE website to support employers to do this https://www.hse.gov.uk/coronavirus/working-safely/protect-people.htm
Asked by: Mark Harper (Conservative - Forest of Dean)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if the guidance contained on the gov.uk webpages entitled Working safely during coronavirus (Covid-19): guidance from step 4 is legally binding in respect of (a) businesses’ insurance policies and (b) health and safety duties.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Working Safely guidance does not supersede businesses’ existing legal obligations relating to health and safety, employment and equalities duties. It is important that businesses continue to comply with existing obligations. Businesses have a legal duty to manage risks to those affected by their business. The way to do this is to carry out a health and safety risk assessment, including the risk of Covid-19, and to take reasonable steps to mitigate the risks identified. In order to help businesses conduct their risk assessment, the ‘Working Safely’ guidance provides advice on sensible precautions employers can take to manage risk and support their staff and customers.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions she has had with Public Health England on how employers should implement measures under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Officials from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Public Health England (PHE) have met regularly to discuss the Working Safely during coronavirus (COVID-19) guidance. These discussions have addressed the measures necessary to control the risk of coronavirus transmission in the workplace. HSE has also supported PHE and other public health bodies in responding to COVID-19 outbreaks. The Secretary of State has not been involved in these discussions.
HSE is an independent regulator and throughout the pandemic they have supported Great Britain’s public health response in the workplace by adopting a risk-based approach. HSE has used health and safety at work legislation, government guidance and best available evidence to ensure dutyholders are aware of, and take, the necessary controls to reduce the risk of transmission in the workplace.