DWP found to have breached health and safety rules by failing to implement workplace measures necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19

Health and Safety Executive finds material breaches of the Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 on carrying out inspection at the DWP's Quarry House offices in Leeds

The DWP has been found to have breached health and safety rules by failing to implement workplace measures necessary to prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).

Having carried out an inspection at the DWP's Quarry House offices in Leeds on 25 August 2020, the Health and Safety Executive found material breaches of sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 as a result of the DWP -

'... failing to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of your employees at work because you have not implemented necessary measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 [and] ... conducting your undertaking in such a way that you are failing to ensure so far as is reasonably practicable that persons not in your employment, agency workers etc (who may be affected thereby) are not thereby exposed to risks to their health and safety.'

In a Notification of Contravention issued to the DWP, the Health and Safety Executive explains that, having assessed a range of the controls put in place to ensure that the workplace at Quarry House is a safe place to work in relation to COVID-19, and that social distancing can be followed, it found that -

• while the main walkways around the building and floors have been designated two-way travel with highlighted crossing points, many are little more than 1m wide and pass very close to desks that are designated as useable;
• there are routes going through communal areas (such as the seating areas adjacent to kitchens/tea points), that introduce unnecessary traffic into the area and infringe on the communal space, as well as other walkways through or between banks of desks;
• there has not been any work inside the office to locate furniture appropriately or identify seating locations to maintain social distancing at 2m, and chairs have not been removed;
• the positioning of coat stands within close proximity to occupied desks creates crowding in the areas at points in the day, as staff congregate around them to retrieve their coats etc;
• staff were seen to be congregating around desks talking and not following social distancing, especially just prior to leaving, including a line manager giving instruction to a group of staff about the following day;
• stairwells are designated two-way travel, but don’t appear to be sufficiently wide enough to allow 2m distancing to be maintained, even at designated passing points;
• there is a lack of ‘do not use’ signs and/or boundary tape to prevent access into breakout pods or, where use is allowed, no occupancy rate is highlighted;
• while it was understood that meeting rooms are not available for team meetings, training or conferences, they were clearly being used;
• there is no localised hand sanitiser provided as required by guidance, and it is unclear whether office surfaces and touchpoints are on the increased cleaning programme given their nominal ‘not in use’ status; and
• there doesn’t appear to be any consideration or assessment to take into account that controls to avoid overcrowding at access/egress points such as the staggering of start and finish times, or partial working from home, may be required in future.

As a result, the Health and Safety Executive says that the DWP -

'... should as a matter of urgency, review your local social distancing controls at Quarry House in line with the issues highlighted above, develop an action plan for the implementation of any remedial actions required, and identify any points where a similar exercise will be required should occupancy rate increases deem it necessary.'

The Health and Safety Executive requests that the DWP confirm in writing the action it has taken by 15 September 2020.

In response to the Health and Safety Executive's findings, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union Mark Serwotka said -

'The Health and Safety Executive report on the DWP Leeds Office shows that the government has failed staff and the wider community by not adhering to basic health and safety legislation.

There is a very real danger of a second COVID spike and this incident makes a mockery of DWP's insistence that offices open until 8pm to the public when they can't even maintain social distancing.'

For more information, see Government condemned for health and safety breaches at DWP Leeds Office from the PCS website.