Yorkshire businesses targeted to stop Covid advice getting lost in translation

As lockdown measures are eased and businesses across Yorkshire and the Humber reopen, Work Right has created dedicated resources in multiple language versions to keep employers and workers safe from COVID-19.

Work Right in Yorkshire and the Humber provides accessible resources for both businesses and workers, which provides guidance and support on how people can remain safe as the remaining business sectors reopen, and more and more employees return to work.

These are available on the Work Right website and include posters for the workplace and a leaflet for workers in seven languages: English, Gujarati, Polish, Hungarian, Romanian, Punjabi and Urdu.

The Work Right campaign is being run by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to remind employers and workers across the region to be mindful of the continued risk of coronavirus and encourages everyone to take an active role in stopping the spread of the virus.

Employers must continue to have COVID-secure measures in place to manage the risk of coronavirus to protect workers, customers and visitors, and need to ensure that everyone follows them. Workers should follow both the measures in place at work and the government guidelines on coronavirus outside of work. They should be aware of avoidable risks of infection, which could lead to them bringing the virus in the workplace.

Bruno Porter, Acting Head of Operations, Yorkshire and North East at the Health and Safety Executive said “The aim of the Work Right campaign is to highlight the need for everyone in Yorkshire and the Humber to continue to follow the advice to stop the spread of COVID-19 as lockdown restrictions are eased.

“Work Right in Yorkshire and the Humber is designed to be easily accessible for employers and workers, presenting guidance and information in a way everyone can understand to improve safety for everyone.

“All businesses should have COVID-secure measures in place. Businesses have a legal duty to protect their workers and others from harm and this includes taking reasonable steps to control the risk and protect people from coronavirus.

“This means making business adjustments to be COVID-secure. We encourage employers to work with their staff when implementing changes, to help increase confidence with workers, customers and the local community.

“When discussing COVID-secure measures with staff, employers should think about their time outside of work, such as how they get to work, and consider this in the measures implemented. If workers have to use public transport, consider staggering start times so they can avoid busy commuting times. Or, if workers live or travel to work together could you put them on the same shift?

“We encourage workers to follow government guidelines when outside of work and to discuss their situations and ideas with their employer. There are some quite simple changes businesses can make to take COVID-secure measures a step further to help stop the spread of COVID-19.”

As part of its Work Right campaign in Yorkshire and Humber, HSE is currently carrying out spot checks and inspections on businesses to check they have COVID-secure measures in place. During the spot checks and inspections HSE will provide guidance where required but, where businesses are not managing the risk, immediate action will be taken.

For more information, please visit workright.campaign.gov.uk/Yorkshire.

/ENDS

Notes to Editors:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We prevent work-related death, injury and ill health through regulatory actions that range from influencing behaviours across whole industry sectors through to targeted interventions on individual businesses. These activities are supported by globally recognised scientific expertise. hse.gov.uk
2. Work Right is a campaign run by the Health & Safety Executive aimed at helping smaller businesses and workers in Britain to navigate the benefits of proportionate and effective risk management. During the COVID-19 pandemic a primary health and safety concern for all businesses has been the risk of coronavirus transmission and is one of Work Right’s primary targets to address.
3. Throughout the pandemic HSE has helped businesses create COVID-secure environments for millions of workers as they continue to perform critical roles that keep the nation running. HSE has conducted spot checks and inspections of businesses to check measures are in place, and published guidance on making workplaces more resilient to virus transmission.
4. HSE news releases are available at press.hse.gov.uk. For HSE’s working safely guidance see www.hse.gov.uk/coronavirus/working-safely/index.htm