FOCUS HEALTH & SAFETY
OVER THE LINE
Where do you draw the line in offi ce social distancing? Dr Simon Joyston-Bechal, a Director at
Turnstone Law looks at the lessons to be learnt from the HSE’s enforcement action against the
Department for Work and Pensions
We have all been trying to follow the Government’s guidance on social
distancing for specific sectors. The guidance for ‘o ices and contact
centres’ has been widely implemented, for example with physical barrier
screens and miles of tape designating one-way walking routes and desks
taken out of action. For some people these measures are excessive and for
others they are insu icient.
I have been looking closely at the details of the Health and Safety Executive
(HSE) enforcement action against the Department for Work & Pensions to help
answer the question I have been asked by many clients: How far do we need to
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go to comply with the criminal law on social distancing for o ices?
WHAT LED THE HSE TO TAKE ENFORCEMENT ACTION AGAINST THE DWP?
In response to a whistle-blower complaint from a DWP employee, the HSE
visited the large DWP Quarry House o ice in Leeds at the end of August 2020 and
served on the DWP a formal Improvement Notice(i) and a Fee for Intervention(ii)
Notice of Contravention and Material Breaches of health and safety law.
The first lesson, therefore, is that consultation with sta and sensitivity to