Usdaw urges government not to water down safety in stores

By Liz Wells in Industry News 5th July 2021

Retail trade union Usdaw is urging the government not to lift safety measures in stores as part of the release of Covid restrictions due on 19 July.

Later today, prime minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce further easing of lockdown measures in England coming into effect on 19 July. Reports have strongly suggested that the legal requirement to wear facemasks indoors in public places and on transport will be removed and replaced with advisory guidance. It is also anticipated that the one-metre rule will go, being replaced with guidance for businesses and hospitality on how to mitigate the risks.

Paddy Lillis, Usdaw general secretary, said: “This is not the right time to water down safety in stores and the government should not be removing the requirements of face coverings and distancing in busy public areas like shops.”

He added: “Usdaw is urging the shopping public to continue to wear face coverings, along with necessary hand sanitisation and maintaining social distancing to help make shops safer and limit the spread of Covid-19. We also continue to call on employers to maintain appropriate safety measures and ensure that they are being followed consistently, in every store.

“Many retail workers are at a greater risk of catching the virus and bringing it home to their families. Supermarket workers and delivery drivers have worked throughout the pandemic to keep the country supplied with essentials. These key workers must be valued, respected and protected.”

Meanwhile, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) has said that any decision to move social distancing and the wearing of facemasks from a legal requirement to simply guidance will make it impossible for them to be enforced. CIEH has also raised concerns about the impact this will have on compliance and the ability of its members to continue to enforce rules or guidance.

Gary McFarlane, Northern Ireland director at CIEH, said: “With enforcement already difficult whilst social distancing and mask-wearing is a legal requirement, any move to make these things a matter of guidance will make it impossible for our members to enforce them.

“If the UK government wants social distancing to continue it will have to legislate for it and make it black and white.”