Coronavirus: Boris Johnson under fire over promised workplace inspections as physical checks paused due to pandemic

Boris Johnson is facing fresh criticism over plans to protect workers from coronavirus after it emerged that physical safety inspections for workplaces were on ice during the pandemic.

The prime minister told MPs last week that spot checks would be carried out in offices, building sites and food outlets by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to ensure people were kept safe from the virus as they return to work.

But his promise has been called into doubt after the HSE said it had suspended physical inspections in March to protect its staff and no date has been set for checks to resume.

Prospect union, whose members work at HSE, said the majority of spot checks will be done by phone, calling into question the effectiveness of the inspections.

Mike Clancy, the union’s general secretary, said: “Last week the government said that HSE would be conducting spot checks on businesses before they reopen for business. It seems that it neglected to check if HSE would actually be able to visit businesses while keeping its own workers safe.

“Prospect members in HSE, who have been working throughout this crisis, have indicated that initially the majority of spot checks will be done via telephone rather than visit which raises questions as to their effectiveness.”

It comes after Mr Johnson told MPs that the government was going to insist that businesses across this country “look after their workers and are Covid-secure and Covid-compliant”.

Responding question from Labour MP Chi Onwurah in the Commons on Monday, Mr Johnson said: “The Health and Safety Executive will be enforcing it and we will have spot inspections to make sure that businesses are keeping their employees safe.”

But when asked by the i newspaper about the spot inspections, an HSE spokesperson said: “In line with government guidance to cease all but essential work that cannot be done outside of the home, minimising contact between individuals, HSE has paused all proactive inspections at this time to reduce any risk posed to our own staff and to members of the public.”

The watchdog later issued a further statement, saying: “The PM was right to talk about spot checks as something that’s being looked at, moving forward.

“It is true that there was a pause during our active inspections during the lockdown but we’ve already stated that plans to enhance our regulatory approach further to the new Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy guidance and the additional funding are being developed.”

The revelation sparked anger from Labour and the trade unions amid deep concern about how to keep workers safe as the lockdown eases.

Andy McDonald, the shadow employment rights secretary, said: “Health and safety law is only as good as its enforcement.

“The PM claimed there’ll be workplace inspections, but those have stopped and a decade of cuts has left too few people in the job.

“Workers must know how their health will be protected when they return to work outside home.”

Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), said: “Self-policing is just spin for no policing.

“Employers must take full responsibility for staff safety, conducting and publishing risk assessments, and meeting the new safety guidelines.

“But they should also be subject to spot checks and penalties to incentivise compliance.”

The government recently allocated an additional £14m to the HSE to allow it to carry out spot checks but the cash boost comes after its funding was slashed from £239m in 2009-10 to £135m in 2017-18.

Staffing levels at the government agency also fell dramatically over the same period from 3,702 to 2,501, while the number of inspectors dropped from 1,495 to 978, according to figures from the House of Commons library.

Source: UK Politics - www.independent.co.uk