Employers may need up to two weeks to prepare for people to return to work safely during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a senior trade union official has warned.
Dan Shears, national health, safety and environment director at the GMB union, said advice that employees who cannot work from home should return to the workplace this week was “reckless” as Boris Johnson was accused of sowing confusion over the relaxation of lockdown rules.
In a televised address on Sunday, the prime minister said people in sectors such as manufacturing and construction should be “actively encouraged” to go back to work on Wednesday – before official guidance had been published on keeping staff safe.
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Advice was finally published by the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy on Monday evening, leaving firms less than two days to get ready.
The row came after Britain’s largest unions – Unison, Unite, the GMB and Usdaw, as well as the Trades Union Congress (TUC) – said they would not advise their 3 million members to return to work until health and safety measures were in place.
Mr Shears, whose union represents some 600,000 workers including ambulance drivers and manufacturing staff, said that many workplaces will need screens, barriers and floor markings for social distancing, as well as hand sanitiser and face masks for staff, which could take up to a fortnight to organise.
He told The Independent: “There’s no legislation around this, but employers have to assess the risk of workers being exposed to Covid-19, and implement ways of reducing that risk to the lowest level that they can achieve.
“In practice, that will require screens, barriers, floor marking, signage, hand sanitiser, face masks and potentially a whole range of other interventions.
“All of this will take time to procure and set up, so I would suggest at least a week and more likely two weeks, unless the employer had this equipment already in the workplace.”
Mr Shears criticised the prime minister’s vague suggestion on Sunday that people could go back to work, saying: “Employers whose workplaces are closed will need to implement these measures before anyone returns to work, so they need the maximum possible lead in time.
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“Twelve hours notice was reckless in the extreme.”
Len McCluskey, general secretary of the Unite union, also criticised the government for offering mixed messages, saying millions of people would be “completely dumbfounded”.
Any worker unsure of whether they were working in a safe environment “should not be pressured in going back to work”, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer urged the prime minister to provide “clarity and reassurance” to the public on plans for easing the lockdown as the new 60-page blueprint left questions over workplace safety and diverging messages from Scotland, Wales and England.
He said: “The prime minister said he was setting out a road map, but if we’re to complete the journey safely, a road map needs clear directions. So many of us have questions that need answering.”
Under the new advice, firms will need to carry out an inspection to show they are safe and place the certificate on display.
Bosses at workplaces such as construction sites, factories and takeaways have been told to maintain two-metre social distancing where possible, to clean more frequently and to erect barriers in shared spaces.
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Staff react outside Salford Royal Hospital in Manchester during a minute’s silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak
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Staff inside Camberwell bus depot in London, during a minute’s silence
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NHS staff at the Mater hospital in Belfast, during a minute’s silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak.
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Shoppers observe a minute’s silence in Tescos in Shoreham
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Firefighters outside Godstone fire station
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6/30 Salford Royal Hospital
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7/30 Salford Royal Hospital
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Hospital workers take part in a protest calling on the British government to provide PPE across Britain for all workers in care, the NHS and other vital public services after a nationwide minute’s silence at University College Hospital in London
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A school children’s poster hanging outside Glenfield Hospital during a minute’s silence
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A man holds a placard that reads “People’s health before profit” outside St Thomas hospital
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Staff members applaud outside the Royal Derby Hospital, following a minute’s silence
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Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill, Prime minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, stand inside 10 Downing Street, London, to observe a minutes silence in tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak
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13/30 University College Hospital, London
Hospital workers hold placards with the names of their colleagues who have died from coronavirus as they take part in a protest calling on the British government to provide PPE
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Staff at Waterloo Station in London, stand to observe a minute’s silence, to pay tribute to NHS and key workers who have died with coronavirus
AP
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Medical staff at the Louisa Jordan hospital stand during a UK wide minutes silence to commemorate the key workers who have died with coronavirus in Glasgow
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An NHS worker observes a minute’s silence at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
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17/30 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London
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NHS staff observe a minutes silence at Mater Infirmorum Hospital
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NHS workers hold a minute’s silence outside the main entrance of Derriford Hospital
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NHS Frimley Park Hospital staff at the A&E department observe a minute’s silence
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21/30 Mater Infirmorum Hospital
People applaud after a minutes silence in honour of key workers
Reuters
22/30 Waterloo Station, London
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Wreaths laid outside Sheffield town hall
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A group of trade unionists and supporters standing outside Sheffield town hall
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First Minister Nicola Sturgeon stands outside St Andrew’s House in Edinburgh to observe a minute’s silence in tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak
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Staff stand outside the Royal Derby Hospital, during a minutes silence
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Police officers observe a minutes silence at Guy’s Hospital
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A woman standing outside Sheffield town hall
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29/30 Royal Derby Hospital
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NHS workers during a minute’s silence outside Glenfield Hospital
Getty
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Staff react outside Salford Royal Hospital in Manchester during a minute’s silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak
PA
2/30
Staff inside Camberwell bus depot in London, during a minute’s silence
PA
3/30
NHS staff at the Mater hospital in Belfast, during a minute’s silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak.
PA
4/30
Shoppers observe a minute’s silence in Tescos in Shoreham
Getty
5/30
Firefighters outside Godstone fire station
PA
6/30 Salford Royal Hospital
Getty
7/30 Salford Royal Hospital
PA
8/30
Hospital workers take part in a protest calling on the British government to provide PPE across Britain for all workers in care, the NHS and other vital public services after a nationwide minute’s silence at University College Hospital in London
AP
9/30
A school children’s poster hanging outside Glenfield Hospital during a minute’s silence
Getty
10/30
A man holds a placard that reads “People’s health before profit” outside St Thomas hospital
Getty
11/30
Staff members applaud outside the Royal Derby Hospital, following a minute’s silence
PA
12/30
Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill, Prime minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, stand inside 10 Downing Street, London, to observe a minutes silence in tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak
PA
13/30 University College Hospital, London
Hospital workers hold placards with the names of their colleagues who have died from coronavirus as they take part in a protest calling on the British government to provide PPE
AP
14/30
Staff at Waterloo Station in London, stand to observe a minute’s silence, to pay tribute to NHS and key workers who have died with coronavirus
AP
15/30
Medical staff at the Louisa Jordan hospital stand during a UK wide minutes silence to commemorate the key workers who have died with coronavirus in Glasgow
Getty
16/30 London
An NHS worker observes a minute’s silence at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
Reuters
17/30 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London
AFP via Getty
18/30 Belfast, Northern Ireland
NHS staff observe a minutes silence at Mater Infirmorum Hospital
Reuters
19/30 Plymouth
NHS workers hold a minute’s silence outside the main entrance of Derriford Hospital
Getty
20/30
NHS Frimley Park Hospital staff at the A&E department observe a minute’s silence
Getty
21/30 Mater Infirmorum Hospital
People applaud after a minutes silence in honour of key workers
Reuters
22/30 Waterloo Station, London
AP
23/30
Wreaths laid outside Sheffield town hall
PA
24/30
A group of trade unionists and supporters standing outside Sheffield town hall
PA
25/30
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon stands outside St Andrew’s House in Edinburgh to observe a minute’s silence in tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak
PA
26/30
Staff stand outside the Royal Derby Hospital, during a minutes silence
PA
27/30 London
Police officers observe a minutes silence at Guy’s Hospital
Reuters
28/30
A woman standing outside Sheffield town hall
PA
29/30 Royal Derby Hospital
PA
30/30 Leicester,
NHS workers during a minute’s silence outside Glenfield Hospital
Getty
Alok Sharma, the business secretary, said: “This guidance provides a framework to get the UK back to work in a way that is safe for everyone.
“These are practical steps to enable employers to identify risks that Covid-19 creates and to take pragmatic measures to mitigate them.”
Mr Johnson’s official spokesman told a Westminster briefing that many firms had been taken steps to protect staff already, such a supermarkets which have erected perspex screens to protect cashiers.
The PM’s spokesman said: “If staff are concerned, they can register those concerns with the health and safety executive, who have existing powers. We want people to feel like they can go back to work safely.
“It’s for employers – who I do think have been hugely responsible so far – and employees to have a conversation and make sure that staff feel safe to go back to work.”
Meanwhile, chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to use a statement to the Commons on Tuesday to announce an extension to the Treasury’s Job Retention Scheme, with speculation that he may scale back support for furloughed workers from the current 80 per cent of salary.
Employers need assurance this week that the scheme will continue beyond the end of June to avoid the need to issue mass redundancy notices for that date.”
