THE government is “dangerously downplaying” the risk of catching Covid-19 at work, a think tank warned today. 

The Institute for Employment Rights (IER) report, compiled by 11 specialists in occupational health and safety and labour law, claims that Covid-19 guidance is not being properly enforced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The left-wing think tank says that the government’s approach to enforcing its guidance in the workplace has been underfunded, light-touch and run by an understaffed HSE.

As a result, researchers claim that workplace risk has not been managed properly, and is not in line with the government’s claim that is making workplaces “Covid-secure.”

Analysis of Public Health England data in the HSE and Covid at Work: A Case of Regulatory Failure report shows that 40 per cent of people testing positive for Covid-19 reported prior “workplace or education” activity. 

Researchers said there has been “widespread failure” to control risks of airborne and surface transmission in workplaces, shown by the emergence of infection “clusters.”

At the online launch of the report, co-author Lord John Hendy said that although airborne transmission is the main way Covid-19 spreads, HSE guidance fails to include how employers should carry out risk assessments for this.  

The report claims that HSE guidance also fails to inform employers and workers of their legal obligations.

“Had employers been reminded of their legal duties, and these laws enforced through robust inspections and effective penalties, workplaces could have been made a lot safer than Covid-19 has shown them to be,” Lord Hendy said. 

The report also found that workplace inspections fell by 40 per cent last year, raising concerns about funding and staff cuts. 

Shadow secretary for employment rights and protections Andy McDonald said that the report findings are “deeply concerning.”  

“When a deadly disease sweeps the country we need worker protections more than ever, yet the government has effectively shielded employers from prosecution while coming down hard on individual citizens who break the same rules,” he said. 

Authors also highlighted problems with HSE leadership, chaired by former Tory minister Sarah Newton.

Addressing the launch, co-author Rory O’Neill described the HSE as an “agent of government.” 

The IER is calling for a major independent public inquiry into the future of the regulation of health and safety at work, and the creation of a new effective regulator.

A HSE spokesperson said: “We have been made aware of the report and will examine its findings.”