Unions have unveiled the tough new standards they are demanding the Government make sure employers follow to make sure people can go back to work safely.
The Trade Union Congress has set out measures which it wants employers to follow before it can they get people back to work.
It comes as the body released polling which shows that 2 in 5 (40%) workers surveyed, along with those who have recently become unemployed, are worried about returning to the normal place of work, including half (49%) of women.
The same number are concerned about not being able to socially distance from colleagues when back at work, and over a quarter (28%) are concerned about not being able to socially distance from customers or clients.
Over a third (34%) are concerned about exposing others in their household to greater risk.
And early 1 in 6 (17%) workers across the economy are concerned about not having access to appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) at work.
So what is it that the TUC want?
A risk assessment in every workplace
The core of the TUC demands is that every workplace should carry out a specific Covid-19 risk assessment. And it should set out specific steps, including enforcing social distancing and what extra safety precautions and equipment is necessary for the government to do its jobs.
They then want this arrangement about returning to be agreed by the staff trade union and have it signed off by a health and safety expert.
PPE provided where necessary
They are calling for all necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) to be provided and insist that no one
should be asked to re-use PPE inappropriately.
Where risk assessments show that PPE is necessary, employers must provide this, and no-one, including Public Health England, should require health and social care workers to re-use PPE.
Specific advice for those at most risk
The TUC is calling for the Government to provide specific advice and protection for those groups most at risk.
This includes workers advised to ‘shield’ and those who are pregnant.
If these workers cannot work safely, their livelihoods must be protected, they demand.
And they must monitor the effects of these changes on workers from groups with protected characteristics - like black workers and pregnant women.
Punish companies who force people to work in unsafe environments
Trade unionists are calling on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to apply sanctions to employers
that do not risk assess for Covid-19 or fail to provide safe working arrangements.
Alongside this, they demand that the HSE run a public information campaign to ensure workers know their rights and extra resources to make inspections quicker.
Where companies fail to act, the TUC say that the HSE should prosecute them.
Reforming support for schemes to keep people in work
The government's furlough support scheme has kept many people in work through this crisis, but the TUC say it must be made more flexible as Britain returns to work.
This means allowing the scheme to protect short-time working, to enable people to return to work gradually.
They also say the scheme must protec those who cannot work, including those who are shielding or caring for someone shielding, parents who cannot work while schools are closed, and those who are ordered to self-isolate by the contact-tracing
And that the rate of sick pay and universal credit should be raised to the equivalent of a week’s pay at the
real living wage, and £260 respectively.
The five week UC wait time must also be axed.
Why is this necessary?
According to TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady "too often decent employers are let down by those who play fast and loose with safety".
She said: “We need tough new measures from government to reassure working people that their health and safety is a priority. Too many workers have already been forced to put their health on the line during this pandemic.
“We all want everyone to get back to work and start rebuilding Britain. But workers need confidence that they won’t have to put themselves or their families at unnecessary risk.
“Government must ensure that every employer performs a comprehensive risk assessment before asking staff to return to work. And bosses who don’t take steps to protect workers should be prosecuted.
“If workers are asked to work in conditions they think are unsafe, they can refuse. And they should know that their unions will have their back.”
What does the government think?
A Government spokesman said: "The Business Secretary continues to meet regularly with representatives from all sectors, business organisations and trade unions.
"It is only right the Government works together with industry and unions to ensure workplaces are as safe as possible both now, and as Government measures develop.
"Only when the evidence suggests that it is safe to do so, and the scientific advice provides for it, will we adjust the current measures in place."
