Covid-19 Health&Safety
Working during the current global pandemic and lockdown raises many issues. Our priority as a Union is the wellbeing and Health and Safety of our members.
We want to ensure that our members are working safely and that you have all the information you need to do that.
Risk Assessments and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s)
Risk Assessments identify hazards and risk in a task or situation and outline measures to mitigate those hazards. SOP’s are a set step by step instructions given to carry out a task to enable it to be carried out correctly and safely.
Thirteen have produced Covid-19 Risk Assessments and SOP’s and have consulted with our Health and Safety Reps while they were being written. You will be sent RA’s and SOP’s, please ensure that you read them, They are there to help protect you and the company may carry out spot checks to make sure you have received, read and understood them. The RA’s and SOP’s can be difficult to read on PDA’s. If you are struggling you can request a hard copy from your line manager.
Working Safely
During the pandemic, the company have reduced the amount of work you normally receive by 20% . This is to give you time to use welfare facilities to wash your hands and to clean any tools if necessary.
We are informed by the company that PPE is in good supply. Make sure that you wear your mask and gloves and that you have Big and anti-viral wipes to clean down surfaces and tools.
Working in’ Bubbles’
Thirteen are stringently following Government Guidelines, guidelines that can be confusing and open to interpretation. The latest guidelines state:
Where the social distancing guidelines cannot be followed in full in relation to a particular activity, businesses should consider whether that activity can be redesigned to maintain a 2m distance or 1m with risk mitigations where 2m is not viable. Mitigating actions include: Reducing the number of people each person has contact with by using ‘fixed teams or partnering’ (so each person works with only a few others).
Our understanding of this is that while it is unavoidable in some circumstances and area’s of work, you should be working with the same, small team of colleagues every day. This limits the number of people from different households working together. This also applies if you have to share a vehicle at work. We are waiting to hear from Thirteen if employees can use their own vehicles if there is concern about having to share a van with another worker.
Be Safe at Work
Earlier this year, Shop Stewards and Health and Safety Reps supplied our members with ‘Section 44’ Cards. These outline Section 44 of The Employment Rights Act which states:
in circumstances of danger which the employee reasonably believed to be serious and imminent and which he could not reasonably have been expected to avert, he left (or proposed to leave) or (while the danger persisted) refused to return to his place of work or any dangerous part of his place of work, or
in circumstances of danger which the employee reasonably believed to be serious and imminent, he took (or proposed to take) appropriate steps to protect himself or other persons from the danger.
If you believe that you or another person is in danger in regards to exposure to Covid-19 or that you feel you you are not being adequately protected to potential exposure, then contact your manager and a Union Representative immediately. If you don’t already have one, The Section 44 Cards can be collected from Travis Perkins or can be posted out to you.
Your Union is here for you. Get in touch through the ‘Contact Section’ of this website.