The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Call centre staff’s social distancing ‘lax’, says worker
Teenage employee who tested positive for Covid-19 recalls colleagues breaching rules
An employee at a call centre hit by a Covid-19 outbreak has recalled how staff would breach social distancing rules.
The 19-year-old woman started working at the Sitel call centre at Eurocentral business park near Bellshill just days before lockdown and has now tested positive for coronavirus.
Six cases were reported on Sunday within the call centre, which is working on test and trace cases for NHS England.
The teenager, who spoke anonymously to the PA news agency, used to work on the test and trace team before being switched to another section.
She said workers did not always follow guidance on social distancing and she thought staff on the test and trace team were more “lax” about following Covid-19 regulations.
“There are social distancing measurements in place, there is a desk and a half between each desk, there are one-way systems, hand sanitiser everywhere,” she said.
“They have a social distancing ambassador, he goes round making sure everyone is following the rules.
“So they do have a lot in place.” But she said a lack of seating in communal areas where employees spend their breaks meant staff would often sit together.
She said: “There’s benches and they have tape, and where there is no tape you can sit, so there are two metres in place.
“But there are not enough seats so people are bumping in together.
“They do put the things in place, it’s just the workers aren’t enforcing them.
“Down in the track and trace they are getting one to two calls a day, so they are sitting doing nothing, they are sitting playing games with each other just to keep the time going.
“The rules are more lax down there and that’s why we think it has obviously come from there.”
She is now in quarantine after testing positive for coronavirus.
Scottish Deputy First Minister John Swinney has not ruled out penalties being levied against the company.
Mr Swinney has already said an investigation needs to be carried out to “get an understanding” of how guidance was being followed within the facility.
Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Monica Lennon confirmed she had previously reported Sitel to police and public health authorities after staff contacted her regarding conditions in the call centre.
An NHS Test and Trace spokeswoman said: “We are aware of a local outbreak of Covid-19 at the Sitel site in Motherwell. This is being managed by Sitel and colleagues in NHS Lanarkshire.”