Industry still waiting for fresh workplace guidance

The government has issued a detailed 65-page roadmap for how the UK will seek to gradually exit the lockdown imposed on March 23 to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

However, the roadmap does not provide additional detailed guidance for employers on keeping workplaces safe as had originally been anticipated, with that guidance now expected either later today or tomorrow.

Instead, the roadmap provides a step-by-step guide to the order in which the lockdown will be lifted, should the virus be kept under control, with a “phased recovery”. This sets out, for example, plans for a “phased” re-opening of retail premises, thought necessary to allow housebuilders to re-open sales offices and showhomes, from June 1. The document said: “the Government will issue further guidance shortly on the approach that will be taken to phasing, including which businesses will be covered in each phase and the timeframes involved.”

The roadmap was issued prior to Boris Johnson facing questions in parliament on his plan to ease lockdown restrictions later this afternoon. At 5pm business secretary Alok Sharma is expected to hold the daily coronavirus briefing, at which more detail around how workplaces will be expected to respond may be revealed.

The news comes amid confusion following the prime minister’s televised national address last night, in which he urged construction and manufacturing workers to return to work but did not spell out if official guidance had actually yet changed.

It also comes as foreign secretary Dominic Raab this morning clarified that the new measures will only come in to force from Wednesday, not with immediate effect, as had been widely interpreted.

Brian Berry, chief executive of the Federation of Master Builders, which represent small contractors and housebuilders, said it was a “shame” the government hadn’t published the fresh guidance alongside Johnson’s announcement, as it would have avoided industry “confusion”. He said officials at the business department had told him that fresh workplace guidance will be published either alongside Alok Sharma’s press conference this evening, or tomorrow.

He said: “The prime minister has now made it clear that he wants a return to work. Unfortunately, the accompanying government guidance that is needed to ensure a safe return has still to be published. The virus continues to remain a very real risk that needs to be effectively managed.”

Berry called for more clarity from the Government about the provision of PPE for workers in particular.

RIBA chief executive Alan Vallance, said: “Until the Government publishes specific guidance on how to safely re-open and operate workplaces, businesses cannot make tangible plans or provide their employees with the reassurance they need.”

Johnson has faced criticism over his decision to change the government’s core message regarding the crisis from “stay at home” to “stay alert”, with Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon describing the phrase as vague and doctors’ leaders questioning the basis on which the change had been brought in.

It is not yet clear whether the forthcoming workplace guidance will include any specific changes to guidance which will affect construction and housebuilding. The government has been urging housebuilders to re-open sites for some weeks, with guidance of safe working practices already in existence, but lockdown rules have kept sales offices and showhomes closed and made it all but impossible to complete home sales.

Johnson used last night’s address to partially relax existing measures, allowing people to sunbathe and meet at a distance with people from other households in parks, measures which are not being copied by other devolved nations.

He said: “We now need to stress that anyone who can’t work from home, for instance those in construction or manufacturing, should be actively encouraged to go to work.”

He also said that shops may be able to start a “phased” re-opening from June 1, along with primary schools.

Construction, except for “critical” work, remains effectively banned in Scotland.

The timing of Boris Johnson’s announcement, prior to the publication of revised guidance eon working practices, has also alarmed unions, which have already branded existing guidance on construction working practices under coronavirus as unsafe. TUC general secretary general secretary Frances O’Grady tweeted that the announcement was a “recipe for chaos.” She said: “Lots of working people will feel confused and anxious after listening to Boris Johnson. Govt still hasn’t published guidance on how workers will be kept safe. So how can the PM – with 12-hours’ notice – tell people to go back to sites and factories?”

A spokesperson for the communities department confirmed that some new guidance was forthcoming and that workplaces should seek to implement it as soon as practicable, but was unable to say if the guidance for workers in housebuilding and construction specifically was changing. The spokesperson said: “As the PM said, anyone who can’t work from home, for instance those in construction and manufacturing, should be actively encouraged to go to work. This is a group of people who already can work, and have been permitted to do so throughout”.

“Further guidance will be published in due course.”