Where a worker has been diagnosed as having COVID-19 and there is reasonable evidence to suggest that it was caused by occupational exposure, employers are required to report the case to the relevant enforcing authority under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR).
Latest published figures up to week ending 11 July show:
7,971 disease notifications of COVID-19 in workers where occupational exposure is suspected were reported to enforcing authorities (HSE and LAs) over the period 10th April – 11 July, including 119 death notifications
around 80% of all worker reported cases (fatal and non-fatal) since 10 April were in HSE enforced workplaces
the majority of reports received since 10th April are for workers in the Health and Social Work sector (including for example hospitals, residential homes and day care). Around 75% of reports were recorded by employers against these activities, although the actual percentage may be higher as it is known that many reports for this sector get mis-classified by employers, particularly to the accommodation sector and to other personal services
85% of worker COVID-19 reports received since 10 April were from workplaces in England, 8% in Wales and 7% in Scotland
the number of COVID-19 notifications made to enforcing authorities has generally fallen week-on-week since beginning of May, and is now at the lowest weekly level since week commencing 12 April (consistent weekly data is unavailable prior to then)
all cases that are reported to HSE and Local Authorities are being assessed and investigations initiated where incidents meet our published Incident Selection Criteria. We are unable to comment on individual investigations at this time.
Total suspected occupational COVID-19 reports made by employers to the Enforcing Authorities, 12 April to 11 July 2020
The statutory disease reporting form was changed on 10 April to enable systematic identification of COVID-19 reports. Guidance was also issued on this date around reporting requirements for COVID-19 deaths under RIDDOR. While some COVID reports may have been made prior to 10th April, they will not be consistent with later time periods. Therefore the data considers reports from 10 April onwards only.
The Government has also published New guidance for businesses and organisations on how to recognise, contain and report incidents of coronavirus has been published. Action cards have been developed to cover a range of businesses and organisations to provide specific advice on the issues each type of organisation may face now lockdown restrictions have been eased. The cards are designed to be printed or downloaded to keep on hand in your business or organisation.
In recognition that Apprenticeships will be more important than ever in helping businesses to recruit the right people and develop the skills they need to recover and grow – both now and in the long-term. Due to the economic impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak the government has introduced incentive payments for hiring a new apprentice to help organisations offer new apprenticeships.
Employers who hire a new apprentice between 1 August 2020 and 31 January 2021 can apply for:
£2,000 for each new apprentice aged 16 to 24
£1,500 for each new apprentice 25 and over
You can apply for the payment from 1 September 2020, after you add new apprentices to your apprenticeship service account. The first payments will be made from January 2021 and will be paid directly into employer’s bank accounts.
How the incentive payments for hiring a new apprentice works
You’ll get the payment in 2 equal instalments. You will be eligible for 50% of the payment 90 days after the apprentice’s start date, and the remaining 50% after the apprentice completes 365 days of their apprenticeship.
The apprentice will need to be in employment and undertaking their apprenticeship at these times as evidenced in the Individualised Learner Record.
Apprentices who’ve been made redundant are eligible as long as they’re a new employee to your organisation. To get the second instalment the apprentice must have at least one year (356 days) of training left to complete.
The Northern Ireland Protocol will take effect from 1 January 2021. New guidance provides support for businesses engaging in new processes under the Northern Ireland Protocol. The guidance outlines that, under the Northern Ireland Protocol, the UK Government will ensure that:
Moving goods from Northern Ireland to Great Britain should take place as it does now – there will be no additional process, paperwork, or restrictions on Northern Ireland goods moving to Great Britain, delivering unfettered access.
Changes for goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland will be kept to an absolute minimum – with a new Trader Support Service, available to all traders at no cost, to be established to provide wraparound support, alongside guidance on the processes for food and agricultural products designed to uphold the longstanding status of the island of Ireland as a single epidemiological unit.
Trade in goods between Northern Ireland and Ireland, and between Northern Ireland and EU Member States, will continue unaffected, with no change at the border, no new paperwork, and no tariffs or regulatory checks.
For trade with the rest of the world, Northern Ireland will benefit from UK FTAs – ensuring the benefits of those agreements are felt right across the United Kingdom.
If businesses are impacted by these changes, they may want to consider the Trader Support Service. It can help businesses if they:
move goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or bring goods into Northern Ireland from outside the UK;
act on behalf of someone to move goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or bring goods into Northern Ireland from outside the UK;
are based in Northern Ireland and receive goods from outside of Northern Ireland;
send parcels between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or bring parcels into Northern Ireland from outside the UK, using Royal Mail or an express operator.
The Trader Support Service will be free to use and will guide businesses through any changes to the way goods move between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and into Northern Ireland from outside the UK. Businesses can also use it to get declarations completed on their behalf. Businesses can register an interest in the Trader Support Service here.
Apply for grants if your business completes customs declarations
Businesses can apply for 3 grants to help their business complete customs declarations. They can apply to get funding for:
training that helps a business to complete customs declarations and processes;
hiring new staff to help their business complete customs declarations;
IT improvements to help their business complete customs declarations more efficiently.
More information on the scheme and how to apply is available here.
The FIS Training Group has secured funding to supplement the cost of training courses completed by FIS employer members. This FIS Supplement is in addition to the CITB GET code grant you claim from CITB for short duration courses. Organisations are eligible for this FIS Supplement if the training undertaken is not on their CITB Skills and Training Fund Plan.
FIS Skills and Training Lead, George Swann, states “This is good news for the training group and our community as it enables members to access additional funding of up to £1,000 to cover a wide array of training, from generic health and safety through to specialist courses such as spray plastering, deflection heads or fire door inspection. If you wish to make use of this supplementary funding we advise you to get in touch with FIS asap as it is a limited pot.”
Application for this supplementary funding is straightforward and will be based on quarterly caps. It will be administered on a first come first served basis. To claim an applicant will simply need to send your invoice to info@thefis.org or telephone 0121 707 0077, FIS will review in line with availability and the set CITB criteria. If the claim meets the requirements of the supplement and the cap has not been reached we will arrange a refund of 50% of the course costs up to a maximum value of £250 per delegate, £1,000 per company per year, less the Tier GET code grant claimed from CITB.
CITB GET Fund FIS Supplement Terms and Conditions:
An FIS supplement can only be paid to organisations ‘in scope’ to CITB and up to date with levy payments.
The supplement is primarily for micro and small organisations no more than 25% of the total fund can be paid to large organisations (100 or more employees).
Non Grant Eligible training is not covered by this supplement.
The supplement cannot be used for Grant Eligible training that is already included on an individual employer contracted CITB Skills and Training allocation.
Training must have taken place between 01 August 2020 and 31 March 2021 and have been completed before applying.
Training must have been completed by delegates who are currently employed by or are NET (taxed) Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) sub-contractors of CITB registered employers.
Invoices supplied must show the full costs of the training which have been carried out including CITB registration number, Training Provider, course name, CITB GET code, Tier value, date of completion, number of delegates, course cost and VAT.
Successful applications will be notified within 25 working days.
Payments will be made in the first week of October 2020, first week of December 2020 and first week of March 2021.
Funding is limited so cannot be guaranteed.
FIS are currently surveying members to identify the GET Code training courses in most demand. If your organisation uses CITB short duration courses, please complete this survey
FIS is happy to review and support all of your funding claims through our one to one Skills and Funding Clinics (remember at this time you can still claim CITB Grants for courses undertaken completed in 2019 up until end November 2020 – our Skills clinics will help you to identify and process these claims). This is a service freely available to members through the booking form here. Members are also strongly advised to apply for the CITB Skills and Training Fund 2020 which can allow organisations to claim up to £25,000 to support their training needs.
In response to coronavirus, the use of face coverings has become mandatory in more public places, and construction employers have asked the CLC for guidance to help provide a consistent approach across the industry. In The Use of Face Coverings in Construction during Coronavirus (COVID-19), it is proposed that employers make available face coverings as a minimum where workers are not required to wear RPE for their specific task and their workplace meets all of the following criteria:
an enclosed space
where social distancing isn’t always possible
where they come into contact with others they do not normally meet.
The full guidance reads:
The Use of Face Coverings in Construction during Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Construction employers have asked the CLC for guidance on the use of face coverings in response to coronavirus to help provide a consistent approach across the industry.
Definitions
Face coverings are made from fabric or cloth and cover the mouth and nose to protect others, not the user, from infection. They are not PPE as they do not protect people from work-related hazards and are not made to a recognised standard.
Surgical face masks are designed and manufactured to be used in medical settings to limit the spread of infection and they are resistant to droplets of fluids and splashes. Whilst they are made to a recognised standard, they are not considered to be PPE.
Visors are classed as PPE and are usually worn to protect the face and eyes. They protect users, not others, against droplets carrying infection.
Respirators which are used extensively in construction activities, are classed as PPE and protect people from work-related hazards that cannot be eliminated or reduced in any other way. They should be specific to the hazard identified and provided free of charge by employers.
Current Position
The use of face coverings in response to coronavirus is mandatory for members of the public in an increasing number of specified places, most of which meet all of the following criteria:
enclosed public spaces
where social distancing isn’t always possible
where people come into contact with others they do not normally meet
The use of face coverings or PPE is not required in response to coronavirus in offices or whilst carrying out construction activities and the Government guidance on Working safely during coronavirus (COVID-19) – Construction and other outdoor work states that: Workplaces should not encourage the precautionary use of extra PPE to protect against COVID-19 outside clinical settings or when responding to a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19.
CLC Position
Where construction workers are not required to wear PPE for their specific task and their workplace meets all of the criteria below, their employer should make available, as a minimum, face coverings:
an enclosed space
where social distancing isn’t always possible
where they come into contact with others they do not normally meet
Current Social Distancing Requirements
Workers should maintain a distance of two metres, or one metre with risk mitigation where two metres is not viable.
Specific additional guidance on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)/Respiritory Protective Equipment (RPE) from the FIS
This new announcement from the CLC has not required any change to FIS Guidance already issued. This will continue to be reviewed against official advice and new information available.
FIS COVID-19 Guide to the Selection of Personal and Respiratory Protective Equipment
With PPE / RPE in short supply and a variety of often conflicting information and advice, FIS has produced this guide to help companies to select the right PPE and manage common construction hazardous substances e.g. dust in an environment with the added complexities of protection against COVID-19.
PPE Certificate Checklist
Are you sure that your personal protective equipment (PPE) is legal and its CE compliance certificate is genuine and relates directly to the performance of the equipment?
Guidance on managing applying PPE
As well as issuing PPE it is vital that we ensure people know how to put it on, remove it, clean it or dispose of it to ensure that we eliminate all risks.
This policy note reiterates Scottish Government policy on the inclusion of subcontractors in a Project Bank Account (PBA); and reinforces it in practice through a notice to subcontractors.
Published:
12 Aug 2020
Project Bank Accounts: availability and accessibility to subcontractors – CPN 7/2020
Purpose
1. This Construction Policy Note reiterates Scottish Government policy on the inclusion of subcontractors in a Project Bank Account (PBA); and reinforces it in practice through a notice to subcontractors.
Key message
2. Information must be available to and accessible by subcontractors to enable them to join a PBA.
Timing and coverage
3. This CPN applies with immediate effect and covers all current and future contracts containing PBA provisions.
in all other bodies that can award public contracts to which a PBA could be applied
in other organisations providing procurement routes for the construction of public buildings and infrastructure
Introduction
5. PBAs assure two things for subcontractors working on Scottish construction projects delivering built assets to the public sector:
prompt payment
protection of payment from the effects of main contractor insolvency
6. The former is good for businesses and their employees. The additional assurance PBAs give on the latter also make them good for the economy and society. It follows therefore that where a PBA is implemented it must be available to and accessible by subcontractors.
Guidance
7. Commissioning bodies can both facilitate and expedite subcontractors’ requests to join the PBA by ensuing that the main contractor receives and conveys a note of the information and associated guidance set out herewith at annex A. This annex shall henceforth be incorporated as appendix I – 1 of Scottish Government’s PBA guidance document.
Dissemination
8. Please bring this CPN to the attention of all those staff involved in the procurement of relevant construction projects.
