TRADE UNION WELCOME FOR RETURN TO WORK GUIDELINES
Employees are torn between their need to go back to work and concerns for their health, according to the Wexford Council of Trade Unions which has welcomed the government’s recently-published Return to Work Safety Protocol.
‘In the trade union movement in Wexford we are delighted that this document has been published because it provides some piece of mind to workers and their families that they will be able to return to work safely and that their health is a priority during the reopening phases’, said Kate Miskella from Wexford Council of Trade Unions.
The Council secretary said workers are very conflicted between their need to return to work and concerns for their health. ‘It is a real balancing act and this protocol not only helps to address those fears and concerns, it also provides for worker representatives to monitor and ensure employers comply with it.’
Ms. Miskella said the protocol which was published following intense negotiations with the Irish Congress of Trades Unions, contains clear instructions for employers to ensure their work premises are Covid-19 compliant.
It prioritises the health and safety of workers as workplaces begin to open and provides specific advice for employers and employees relating to physical distancing, hand hygiene, first aid, mental health and ventilation. It also outlines the obligations on employers to provide clear information to employees on signs and symptoms of coronavirus along with how it spreads, cleaning routines, waste disposal and the use of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) and other work equipment.
The protocol provides for a collaborative approach between employers and workers to ensure it is correctly adhered to, including the establishment of lead worker representatives to monitor workplace procedures
‘As public health advice changes this document may evolve, however currently it is the minimum standard for workplaces’, said Ms. Miskella.
‘As a Council of Trade Unions, we will continue to monitor the situation locally, provide as much information and guidance as we can to all sectors and ensure the voice and concerns of workers locally are heard. We can never emphasise enough, but particularly at this time, the importance of being a member of a trade union.
‘If workers have any concerns related to their job, their work environment, the provision of PPE, or any other issue, they should have no hesitation in contacting their workplace representative, their union or indeed ourselves in the Wexford Council of Trade Unions’, she said. ‘My advice to workers is this, if you are not a member of a trade union, you should consider joining one as the phased return to the workplace begins’.