Worker’s cleaners claim

A day shift worker at the call centre told our friends at The Mirror they had only seen cleaners come round ‘once a day at around 5pm’.

But Stephen Rafferty said this was untrue, and that cleaners came three times a day - disinfecting work stations, door handles, kitchen areas and more.

The chief operations manager said the firm was following guidelines by the Scottish Government that say workers must be kept two metres apart where possible.

However, those rules state:“If the task is essential, the distance between workers can be reduced to no less than one metre.”

Mr Rafferty claims AGO is “putting itself in the front line to try to help people” and said they are“very strict in operating within the guidelines”having taken“a lot of measures”to keep staff safe.

He also defended the waiver, saying staff knew they’d be at some risk when they took the job.

He added:“Everybody who applied for the job knew they were going to have to come from outwith their own home, were going to have to put themselves at risk by not self-isolating.

“We just had to make them aware that if you choose to look for a job, come out during this time to support COVID-19, then you are putting yourself at a certain risk.

“We must as a business make them aware of that risk and make them aware that if they choose to do it, that’s a decision that they and only they can make.”

The helpline helps 1.5million people in England who have been told to avoid all social contact, including those with cancer and cystic fibrosis.

Call handlers check on their welfare and whether they have enough food and medicine.

Last month we shared a picture chief executive Kris McGenily posted online appearing to show staff working in close quarters. New photos from an insider again appear to show call handlers in close proximity, working in booths separated by dividers that’don’t reach the top of all workers’heads. The undated photos also show staff without masks, but chief operations manager Stephen Rafferty insisted masks and gloves are available to all staff. The pair had previously taken to social media to ‘beg’for more hand sanitiser and head sets, above.