Ministers must urgently classify Covid-19 as an occupational disease to force employers to reduce the risk of exposure and help workers access key benefits, the TUC said.
The UK is out of step with other major countries that have recognized Covid as a disease that people can contract in the process of working, particularly in certain sectors, it said.
UK trade union umbrella body urges Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to use powers to ‘prescribe’ Covid. If the DWP agrees, Covid will be treated in the same way as, for example, a disease linked to workplace exposure, such as asbestos-related cancer, which is a known risk for people who have worked in construction or firefighting.
Frances O’Grady, the general secretary of the TUC, accused ministers of “shocking negligence” for not prescribing Covid earlier, given the significant evidence that people are getting it at work.
“If you become ill because of your work with life-changing consequences, you need to get the right support. But ministers have not yet added Covid to the list of occupational diseases,” she said. “Two years into this pandemic that is shockingly careless. And it leaves workers unfairly exposed.”
In a report, the TUC stated: “At least 20,000 people die prematurely each year due to occupational disease as a result of occupational disease. There are more than 70 prescribed “occupational” diseases that are known to pose a risk in certain jobs. These diseases occur as a result of work requiring close contact with a hazardous substance or circumstance.
Someone whose diagnosis is related to their work can ask for financial support.
Research by the International Labor Organization has shown that many other nations, including Australia, Canada and China, already recognize Covid as an occupational disease subject to evidence of transmission through an occupational role. In France, it is automatically treated as such for healthcare workers, even though the latter must have been affected by a severe form of the coronavirus.
At least 20 of the 50 US states suggest that many first responders and key workers who get Covid – including paramedics and firefighters – did so while on the job.
In the UK, ministers can designate an illness as an occupational disease, subject to guidance from the Occupational Accidents Advisory Board, an independent body that assesses the evidence. However, in March last year it published a review which showed that some people are at double the risk of contracting Covid if they work in areas such as nursing, social care, bus or taxi driving, food handling, retail or security work.
Employers are required to report cases of any prescribed illness to the Health and Safety Executive and the local council. Employees can then access benefits and compensation through the work injury scheme to help them cope with their illness and disability.
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The British Medical Association and the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the coronavirus, which is made up of MPs and peers, already support the designation of Covid as a work-related hazard. Leila Moran, the Liberal Democrat MP who chairs the APPG, called for swift progress. “Ministers cannot keep burying their heads in the sand,” she said.
A government spokesman highlighted the benefits already available to people whose ability to work is prevented by Covid or prolonged Covid.
“For anyone with a disability or long-term health condition, including long-term Covid, there is a strong financial safety net, including Statutory Sickness Benefit, ESA and Universal Credit,” they said.
“Pip is also available to those who have had daily living and/or mobility needs for three months and are expected to have them for at least another nine months. Pip assessments are carried out by trained healthcare professionals who carefully consider how a person’s disability or long-term health condition affects their daily life.’
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