Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to take steps against retailers that do not limit the number of customers in accordance with Government guidance on Working safely during coronavirus, last updated on 9 November 2020.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government guidance on working safely during coronavirus states that it is for each business to carry out its own risk assessment, in consultation with their workers, to inform the actions they should take to reduce the risks of COVID-19. All companies have the same obligations to protect the health and safety of their workers and other people who may be affected by their business.
Employers will need to consider how best to maintain social distancing at their workplace. This may include restricting the number of customers in a shop at any one time and making this clear to customers and other visitors.
If anyone has concerns that employers are not taking all reasonably practicable steps to reduce the risks of COVID-19, they should get in touch with their employee representative or union, or with the Health and Safety Executive.
If the enforcing authority finds that an employer is not taking action to properly manage workplace risk, a range of actions is open to them including specific advice or issuing enforcement notices.
The vast majority of employers are responsible and will join with the UK’s fight against COVID-19 by working with the government and their sector bodies to protect their workers and the public. However, inspectors are carrying out compliance checks nationwide to ensure that employers are taking the necessary steps.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it a legal requirement for employers to allow all pregnant women who pass (a) 20 weeks or (b) 28 weeks gestation to work from home or be suspended on full pay during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Paul Scully
Ministers and officials regularly discuss a wide range of issues relating to Coronavirus and employment rights. Existing legislation and public health guidance covering the health and safety of pregnant women in the workplace puts in place protections to cover the risks pregnant women may face during the Coronavirus outbreak. The Department of Health and Social Care is also working with the Health and Safety Executive, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Royal College of Midwives and health departments in the devolved nations on developing guidance on occupational health advice for pregnant women in the workplace. The Department plans to publish the guidance shortly.
Under current public health guidance, pregnant women are in the clinically vulnerable group. This means that they are advised to work from home where it is possible to do so. Where working from home is not possible, pregnant women can attend a place of work provided this is supported by the employer's health and safety risk assessment and particular attention is paid to social distancing guidelines. Guidance on working safely can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19.
A small number of pregnant women are considered to be clinically extremely vulnerable. Current guidance strongly advises that clinically extremely vulnerable individuals work from home. Where this is not possible they are advised not to attend work for this period of restrictions. The guidance makes clear that pregnant women who are clinically extremely vulnerable and cannot work from home should be suspended on full pay. This is in line with normal requirements under regulation 16(3) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. This guidance can be found here: https://www.hse.gov.uk/coronavirus/working-safely/protect-people.htm?utm_source=govdelivery&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=coronavirus&utm_term=more-2&utm_content=digest-10-jul-20#pregnant_workers.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on bringing forward legislative proposals to require employers to allow pregnant women who pass (a) 20 weeks or (b) 28 weeks gestation to work from home or be suspended on full pay.
Answered by Paul Scully
Ministers and officials regularly discuss a wide range of issues relating to Coronavirus and employment rights. Existing legislation and public health guidance covering the health and safety of pregnant women in the workplace puts in place protections to cover the risks pregnant women may face during the Coronavirus outbreak. The Department of Health and Social Care is also working with the Health and Safety Executive, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Royal College of Midwives and health departments in the devolved nations on developing guidance on occupational health advice for pregnant women in the workplace. The Department plans to publish the guidance shortly.
Under current public health guidance, pregnant women are in the clinically vulnerable group. This means that they are advised to work from home where it is possible to do so. Where working from home is not possible, pregnant women can attend a place of work provided this is supported by the employer's health and safety risk assessment and particular attention is paid to social distancing guidelines. Guidance on working safely can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19.
A small number of pregnant women are considered to be clinically extremely vulnerable. Current guidance strongly advises that clinically extremely vulnerable individuals work from home. Where this is not possible they are advised not to attend work for this period of restrictions. The guidance makes clear that pregnant women who are clinically extremely vulnerable and cannot work from home should be suspended on full pay. This is in line with normal requirements under regulation 16(3) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. This guidance can be found here: https://www.hse.gov.uk/coronavirus/working-safely/protect-people.htm?utm_source=govdelivery&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=coronavirus&utm_term=more-2&utm_content=digest-10-jul-20#pregnant_workers.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) improvement notices and (b) prohibition notices have been issued and (c) prosecutions have been instigated by the Health and Safety Executive in relation to employers not adequately managing the risks of covid-19 transmission in each month since March 2020.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The numbers of COVID-19 related Health and Safety Executive (HSE) intervention cases where the outcome is recorded as being an enforcement notice are shown in the table below. A breakdown of notices by type (prohibition / improvement notices) is not available.
Month (2020) | Number of intervention cases resulting in notices |
March | 0 |
April | 1 |
May | 9 |
June | 15 |
July | 32 |
August | 26 |
September | 30 |
October | 23 |
Total | 136 |
To date, there have been no COVID-19 transmission related prosecutions instigated by HSE.
Note - the above quoted numbers were taken from HSE’s live operational database on 5th November 2020 and are subject to change e.g. as there can be a delay before actions are updated on the database.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November 2020 to Question 110766 on Business: Coronavirus, if his Department will take steps to monitor the number of office-based businesses who are still requiring staff to work from the office during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Paul Scully
When employers consider whether workers should come into the office, this will need to be reflected in the COVID-19 workplace risk assessment and actions taken to manage the risks of transmission in line with this guidance.
The decision to return to the workplace must be made in meaningful consultation with workers (including through trade unions or employee representative groups where they exist). It is vital employers engage with workers to ensure they feel safe returning to work, and they should not force anyone into an unsafe workplace.
Safer working guidance for offices and contact centres can be found at www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/offices-and-contact-centres. This guide clarifies for employees how they, should they need to, can escalate a concern regarding a return to work.
Anyone who feels they are incorrectly being asked to go into their place of work should contact their employee representative or trade union if they have one, or contact the Health and Safety Executive on 0300 790 6787 or using the online working safely enquiry form.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many spot checks and inspections of employer premises have been conducted by the Health and Safety Executive to ensure that they are COVID-19 secure in each of the past six months for which figures are available.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
From the 1st May 2020 to 27th October 2020, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has conducted 34310 spot checks and inspections of employer premises to ensure they are COVID-19 secure.
Table 1 - Breakdown of spot checks and inspections by month:
Calendar Month - 2020 | Spot checks and inspections |
May | 89 |
June | 2072 |
July | 4513 |
August | 5916 |
September | 8960 |
1st – 27th October | 12760 |
Total | 34310 |
Note: The data is taken from HSE’s live operational database. It represents the picture as at 27th October 2020 and is subject to change, e.g. as inspection data is uploaded.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many reported breaches of the COVID-secure workplace guidance have been received by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE); what proportion of those were investigated by the HSE; and what proportion of such investigations triggered formal advice to the relevant employer.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
To date, 14817 COVID-related workplace concerns have been reported to HSE. 4895 (approximately 33%) have been assigned to inspectors for investigation. The remainder have been dealt with by HSE’s Concerns and Advice Team.
Of the 4895 concerns assigned to inspectors, 4284 have had a recorded outcome to date.
Of these, 22 (approx. 0.5 %) required formal enforcement notices, 220 (approx. 5.1%) written correspondence indicating there was a breach of the law and confirming the action required to make the workplace safe and 1118 (approx. 26.1%) verbal advice to secure compliance with health and safety at work law. The remainder required no action.
Note: The figures were extracted from HSE’s live operational database and provide the picture on the date of extraction (27th October 2020). Any new cases yet to be added to the system will not be included.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many covid-19 related workplace concerns have been reported to the Health and Safety Executive (a) by phone and (b) online by (i) members of the public and (ii) employees in each month since March 2020.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
(1) Covid-19 related concerns reported online
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has received a total of 14817 workplace concerns reported via its online concerns reporting process since March 2020 to 27th October 2020. The notifier gave their status as ‘employee’ in 5263 cases, and as ‘member of the public’ in 4256 cases.
Table 1 shows the number of covid-19 related workplace concerns raised with HSE since March 20 to 27th October 2020, identifying the numbers reported by employees and members of the public:
| Employee | Member of the Public | Other* | Total |
Mar | 787 | 324 | 676 | 1787 |
Apr | 938 | 729 | 1106 | 2773 |
May | 735 | 558 | 732 | 2025 |
Jun | 549 | 394 | 504 | 1447 |
Jul | 525 | 683 | 496 | 1704 |
Aug | 367 | 494 | 415 | 1276 |
Sep | 647 | 588 | 653 | 1888 |
1st – 27th Oct | 715 | 486 | 716 | 1917 |
Total | 5263 | 4256 | 5298 | 14817 |
(2) Covid-19 related telephone enquiries
HSE has received a total of 22371 covid-19 related telephone enquiries since March 2020 to 27th October 2020.
Table 2 shows the number of telephone enquiries by month since March 2020 to 27th October 2020.
| Total |
Mar | 1793 |
Apr | 480 |
May | 3315 |
Jun | 4838 |
Jul | 3863 |
Aug | 2313 |
Sep | 3130 |
1st – 27th Oct | 2639 |
Total | 22371 |
Notes
i. Table 2 figures include other covid-19 related enquires. A breakdown of specific covid-19 concerns by telephone and the breakdown of the source of the call (employee, member of the public or other) is not possible to obtain.
ii. All figures were extracted from HSE’s live database and provide the picture as at 27th October 2020.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many covid-19 related cases opened by the Health and Safety Executive (a) are open and (b) have been closed in each month since March 2020.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has opened a total of 36658 covid-19 related cases arising from social distancing concerns, spot checks, outbreaks and investigations following reports received under the Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013. HSE currently has open 10691 such cases and has closed a total of 25967 since March 2020.
Table 1 shows the numbers of cases opened (which remain open) and closed in each month since March 2020:
Calendar Month and Year | Open Cases | Closed Cases |
Mar | 0 | 6 |
Apr | 19 | 1710 |
May | 55 | 1077 |
Jun | 374 | 2310 |
Jul | 746 | 4263 |
Aug | 1637 | 4648 |
Sep | 3216 | 6282 |
1st – 27th Oct | 4644 | 5671 |
Totals | 10691 | 25967 |
Total open cases and closed cases |
| 36658 |
Notes:
(i) The figures were extracted from HSE’s live operational database and provide the picture on the date of extraction (27th October 2020). Any new cases yet to be added to the system will not be included.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many visits have been carried out by the Health and Safety Executive in each month since March 2020 to inspect whether workplaces were covid-secure; and how many of those visits in each month were carried out in each (a) region and (b) nation of the UK.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Since March 2020, HSE has recorded a total of 10045 visits to workplaces on Covid-19 security. The visits include spot checks specifically on Covid-19, inspections as part of an investigation into a concern raised about Covid-19 and inspections and investigations into other matters at which Covid-19 is also checked.
Table 1 - Breakdown of visits by month:
Month | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | 1st – 27th Oct | Total |
Total | 2 | 39 | 131 | 175 | 1586 | 1461 | 2056 | 4595 | 10045 |
Table 2 - Breakdown of visits by country:
Country | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | 1st- 27th Oct | Total |
England | 2 | 35 | 110 | 140 | 1281 | 1232 | 1713 | 4154 | 8667 |
Scotland | - | 2 | 13 | 14 | 190 | 172 | 247 | 231 | 869 |
Wales | - | 1 | 8 | 17 | 103 | 48 | 86 | 194 | 457 |
Dutyholder based in Northern Ireland but inspection took place in GB | - | 1 | - | 1 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 20 |
Unable to verify site postcode with ONS system | - | - | - | 3 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 32 |
Total | 2 | 39 | 131 | 175 | 1586 | 1461 | 2056 | 4595 | 10045 |
Note: The health and safety at work regulator for Northern Ireland is the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) which is not a part of HSE. Figures given are therefore for visits in England, Scotland and Wales.
Table 3 Breakdown of visits by region.
Region | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | 1st – 27th Oct | Total |
East Midlands | - | 2 | 12 | 23 | 143 | 112 | 127 | 311 | 730 |
East of England | - | 4 | 15 | 17 | 114 | 89 | 151 | 546 | 936 |
London | 1 | 4 | 4 | 17 | 158 | 120 | 131 | 247 | 682 |
North East | - | 2 | 14 | 6 | 76 | 64 | 149 | 307 | 618 |
North West | - | 4 | 10 | 17 | 189 | 255 | 411 | 1169 | 2055 |
South East | - | 4 | 22 | 21 | 186 | 174 | 320 | 434 | 1161 |
South West | 1 | 1 | 19 | 21 | 124 | 164 | 110 | 254 | 694 |
West Midlands | - | 9 | 3 | 8 | 80 | 92 | 109 | 638 | 939 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | - | 5 | 11 | 10 | 211 | 162 | 205 | 248 | 852 |
Dutyholder based in Northern Ireland but inspection took place in GB | - | 1 | - | 1 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 20 |
Unable to verify site postcode with ONS system | - | - | - | 3 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 32 |
Total | 2 | 39 | 131 | 175 | 1586 | 1461 | 2056 | 4595 | 10045 |
Notes
i. Data is not available by region for Wales and Scotland.
ii. All figures were extracted from HSE’s live database and provide the picture as at 27th October 2020.