The UK Prime Minister recently announced that most of the legal restrictions for citizens are likely to be lifted from 19th July 2021, confirmation will not arrive before 12th July 2021, following a data review.
Government guidelines for keeping workplaces COVID-19 Secure are still in existence and must be followed, appropriate to your workplace, until they are revised or removed. Guidance can be found at:
Working safely during coronavirus (COVID-19) – Guidance – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Enforcing authorities, such as the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Local Authority Environmental Health Officers can still legitimately seek confirmation that you have COVID-19 Secure measures in place, until guidelines are revised or removed, which is likely to be no sooner than 19th July 2021, at the earliest.
Enforcement action may be taken if your controls are deemed to be insufficient for your workplace.
The Government has announced planned changes to the isolation requirements for close contacts of positive cases, currently these will be:
- People under 18 years of age will not have to isolate, after 16th August 2021
- People who have received both vaccination injections will not have to isolate, after 16th August 2021
Anyone testing positive for COVID-19, regardless of their vaccination status, will have to self-isolate in line with current requirements.
From a risk management point of view, some of the COVID-19 controls established in workplaces, such as hand sanitiser, frequent cleaning of shared surfaces and distancing remain effective against viruses, which include flu and other respiratory viruses. It is widely anticipated that there will be a resurgence of flu this coming winter.
As soon as there are significant changes to the workplace guidance, we will update you on what they are. In the meantime, we urge you to maintain your current COVID-19 controls, to reduce your risk and maintain legal compliance.