22nd July 2020
HSE Target Yorkshire In COVID Compliance Spot-Check Campaign
The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) have stated that they will be making checks on Yorkshire employers to ensure that they are aware of their obligations to comply with the Safer Workplace guidance issued in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The official HSE statement confirmed that ‘Inspectors are out and about visiting businesses across the city (of Bradford) and surrounding areas, putting employers on the spot and checking that they are complying with the latest guidance’.
As previously reported, spot checks will include both telephone checks and physical site visits. Should insufficient levels of risk management be identified, the HSE will intervene with specific advice, enforcement and prohibition notices, and in the most extreme cases, prosecutions.
Some of the more common issues that employers are facing are:
- Failing to provide sufficient arrangements for monitoring, supervising and maintaining social distancing
- Failing to introduce an adequate cleaning regime
- Failing to provide access to welfare facilities to allow frequent hand washing
The HSE’s statement continued; ‘Given the number of cases in Bradford, becoming COVID-secure should be a priority for all businesses. We are talking to duty holders and inspecting sites across the city to understand how they are managing risks in line with their specific business activity.
‘Employers have a legal duty to protect workers and others from harm and this includes taking reasonable steps to control the risk and protect people from coronavirus. We encourage businesses to engage their employers in the changes they put in place to become COVID-secure to increase confidence with workers and in turn customers and the local community.’
