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Home | Internacional | UK safety agency clarifies rules to help logistics operations resume
Postado em 2 de junho de 2020 | 17:05

UK safety agency clarifies rules to help logistics operations resume

Freight Transport Association welcomes HSE move ‘to kickstart logistics operations safely and effectively’ after lobbying to change guidance that risked employers being ‘vulnerable to excessive or unfair litigation’.

The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has welcomed a decision by the UK’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to loosen and clarify certain rules over the reporting of COVID-19 cases within the workplace, claiming it will help to “kickstart logistics operations safely and effectively”.

Stressing that logistics movements remain key to the future recovery of the economy, FTA said it had “campaigned successfully for the Health and Safety Executive to amend its RIDDOR reporting guidance to avoid penalising businesses unfairly as they restart or scale up their operations under the COVID-19 pandemic”.

The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) puts duties on employers, the self-employed and people in control of work premises to report occupational diseases, including COVID-19, among the workforce.

Under the new reporting guidance, announced last weekend, employers must make a judgment based on the information available as to whether a confirmed case of COVID-19 in an employee is likely to have been caused by occupational exposure, FTA explained, noting that “this amend provides employers with flexibility to decide if submitting a report is required”.

Elizabeth de Jong, director of policy at FTA, commented: “Following constructive discussions with HSE, FTA is pleased that the safety body has listened to the concerns of our members and amended its RIDDOR guidance to provide employers with greater flexibility to decide whether a confirmed COVID-19 case is likely to be due to occupational exposure, and as such, requires the submission of a report.

“Before this addition, our employer members were concerned that the lack of clarity on the guidance would have left them vulnerable to excessive or unfair litigation, as well as facing an administrative burden when resources are already strained. It would have hindered the return to work and created apprehension among both workers and their employers, impacting ultimately the nation’s economic recovery.

“FTA is fully committed to a safe and efficient return to work for all businesses across the UK economy, and especially within the logistics sector. A successful return to work must be built on trust and confidence right across business; we are grateful to HSE for adapting its guidance so we can get the UK back to work safely, effectively and quickly.”

 

 

Fonte: Lloyd´s


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