One in three worried by workplace Covid risk
Over a third (35 per cent) of UK workers are worried about catching Covid in the workplace according to a poll by the Resolution Foundation. Low-paid and young workers were the most likely to be worried – and the least least likely to raise concerns or have them resolved.
The think tank says that, given workers’ limited ability to force their employer to resolve the safety concerns, the UK’s health and safety regime needs to step up its role in tackling the risk of catching the virus at work. However, the report notes that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has entered the pandemic severely under-resourced, with its budget per premises under its inspection remit more than halving over the past decade, from £224 in 2010-11 to just £100 in 2020-21.