Representing employees and receiving information from inspectors

Under Regulation 4 of the Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977, safety reps functions include representing employees “with inspectors of the Health and Safety Executive and of any other enforcing authority”; and receiving information from inspectors in accordance with section 28(8) of the 1974 Act. Public health officials will also investigate workplace outbreaks of COVID — where there are two or more confirmed cases of COVID-19 among workers or visitors to a workplace — within 14 days.

However, Unite general union national health and safety officer Rob Miguel told LRD’s Labour Research magazine: “Our reps tell us that HSE inspectors, local authority environmental health officers and public health officials don’t always consult them about the cause of workplace outbreaks when they visit, as they should do, and Unite is taking this up with the various enforcement bodies.” (See Labour Research, November 2020, page 23 https://www.lrdpublications.org.uk/publications.php?pub=LR&iss=2047&id=idm140617334766336.)

An NEU teaching union rep reported that the union not been discussing outbreaks with public health teams. It had asked the city council for information on schools where it knows there have been outbreaks, but beyond that it not had any feedback or discussion. This was “very disappointing and frustrating”.