PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Health Services and Social Services: Coronavirus (2 July 2020)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the use of occupational risk assessment tools for health and social workers in relation to the covid-19 outbreak.

Asked by:
Marsha De Cordova (Labour)

Employers have a legal duty to protect the health, safety and welfare of their staff under the The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. Risk assessments are an important tool in ensuring staff are kept safe.

The Department has developed a Risk Reduction Framework for the adult social care sector to support employers to sensitively discuss and manage specific risks to their staff.

NHS England and NHS Improvement wrote to all National Health Service organisations on 24 June requiring them to complete risk assessments for vulnerable staff within four weeks and to publish metrics to demonstrate compliance. Guidance on completing risk assessments and other supporting tools including a risk reduction framework, has been made available through NHS Employers.

Answered by:
Helen Whately (Conservative)
3 September 2020