Vaccinations should not be solely relied upon to prevent the spread of Coronavirus in the workplace, when businesses begin to open their doors to more employees, the British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS) has warned.

The advice comes as the UK passes the halfway mark in vaccinations and all the UK’s countries relax COVID-19 restrictions. Over recent months, while lockdown restrictions have been in place, workplaces have been the frontline for the control of the spread of the pandemic.

While much has still to be learned about the disease, social distancing, testing and good ventilation remain key to preventing the spread in the workplace, the BOHS has said. And while vaccination is likely to have a significant impact on workplace transmission as well, simply relying on vaccination, at least in the coming months, would be a risky strategy for employers and may contribute to outbreaks, undermine the public health benefits of the vaccine programme, or even land the employer in hot water legally.

Says BOHS President, Kelvin Williams:

“The vaccination effort has been an outstanding British science success story and will save lives of workers, particularly those exposed to the general public and those with some vulnerabilities.”

However, until the virus is not as widespread in the population, vaccination alone will not be sufficient.

The Society draws attention to research by Oxford University, Significant reductions in COVID-19 infections found after single dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, that highlights that asymptomatic infection is still an appreciable risk after receipt of vaccinations. There will continue to be people within workplaces who are susceptible to the virus, either because they have not yet been vaccinated or they are in the small group of people still vulnerable to infection.

Comments BOHS CEO, Professor Kevin Bampton:

“We are greatly looking forward to seeing the end of additional COVID measures, but it’s probably too early to be relaxing them, despite the general easing of restrictions in society. In social life, people can select the risks they wish to be exposed to, but in the workplace it remains the responsibility of employers to ensure those risks are managed.”

The Society points out that younger and pregnant women may be amongst the group of people who may not yet have been vaccinated and that further research needs to be undertaken into the effectiveness of the vaccine on different ethnic groups, which also have lower vaccine take-up. Over-reliance on vaccination as a control of the virus may indirectly result in discrimination against these groups.

Says BOHS President, Kelvin Williams, referring to the BBC’s interactive explanation Covid-19: Vaccines alone will not stop Covid spreading – here’s why:

“The BBC’s Swiss Cheese explanation of COVID risk explains the problem simply. We are at a crucial stage in the return to work, where public-facing jobs are ramping up and with them the risk of exposure to infection. Suppressing the risk of asymptomatic infection is not only important to protect workers themselves, but also to reduce the amount of virus in circulation and the potential breeding grounds for new variants. The vaccine promises light at the end of the tunnel, but we are not out of it yet.”

You can find more advice and guidance on vaccination in the workplace and return to work issues at the BOHS Covid Hub.

Your legal duties
What are your health and safety criminal law obligations for the return to work and what do you need to do to stay on the right side of criminal law?

Dr Simon Joyston-Bechal of law firm Turnstone Law gives the following overview:

“As always, the starting point is to comply with the obligations in sections 2 and 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 – all reasonably practicable steps must be taken so as to ensure the health, safety and welfare of your workers and anyone else impacted by your operations. This includes keeping up to date with the work-related risks posed by COVID-19, as well as planning and implementing all reasonably practicable risk reduction measures.

“More specifically, there is the requirement in Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 to make 'suitable and sufficient' risk assessments of the health and safety risks faced by your employees, as well as non-employees who are affected by your operations. Risk assessments must be in writing if you have five or more employees; and they must be reviewed or updated when the circumstances change. Circumstances and knowledge about COVID-19 risks are changing fast, so you need to keep abreast of the latest developments and act accordingly.

“There are also the criminal law requirements under the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 to provide suitable PPE. The obligations include that PPE must be appropriate for the risks and conditions involved, capable of fitting correctly and must be assessed as suitable and effective, so far as is reasonably practicable, to prevent or adequately control the risk. Employees must be given adequate information, instruction and training regarding PPE, which must also be maintained, cleaned and replaced as appropriate. Last but by no means least, all reasonable steps must be taken to ensure that any PPE is properly used.”

Read the full article here.