There is ‘NO evidence’ returning to the office is safe, claims safety chief

The head of Britain’s top health and safety body today insisted there is ‘no evidence’ returning to the office is safe as he criticised the government for ‘bullying’ people to return.  

Lawrence Waterman, chair of the British Safety Council, said ‘large gatherings of people’ could lead to outbreaks, and that the lack of inspections meant there was limited evidence to back up ministers claims offices were safe. 

He accepted that there was a risk of city centres turning into ‘ghost towns’ if workers did not return, but insisted it was up to employers to negotiate with their staff about whether they were ready to return. 

Boris Johnson has been urging staff to return to ‘Covid-secure’ offices to avoid a crippling economic downturn, with a plunge in footfall in towns and cities already causing a swathe of job cuts, including 2,800 roles being axed at Pret.  

When asked on the BBC’s Today programme if there was evidence that returning to work was risk free, Mr Waterman said: ‘I think that’s one of the concerns that many of us have got about how the government are putting out the advice about returning to work being safe. We simply don’t know. 

‘We believe from the evidence that large gatherings of people… leads to exactly the kind of indoor environments that seem to be prone to the transmission of coronavirus, and there isn’t evidence that when you return large numbers of people you don’t get outbreaks. 

‘I think many of us don’t understand why there’s such firm advice that workplaces are safe when there’s no evidence for that. Indeed, there is an argument that workplaces are so rarely inspected that it’s probably more likely that you’ll win the lottery than be visited by an inspector, so we’re bemused about where the evidence is.’

The government has repeatedly insisted that offices can be made ‘Covid-secure’ to allow workers to return safely and boost Britain’s fledgling economic recovery. 

But Mr Waterman pointed out that the government’s own Health and Safety Executive still advises on its website that ‘everyone who can work from home should do so’. 

He added: ‘We don’t want ghost towns but it should be a matter for workers and employers to negotiate. Many do want to return to the office and many miss the camaraderie of working with colleagues. But it should be a choice that grown up workers and their employees should make. 

‘We’re not in favour of the government bullying people. Schools are reopening this week in England, so many we should see how that settles down before forcing people back into offices.’ 

A string of top firms last night revealed their staff were pouring back into the office, with others saying they are considering plans to lure workers from their homes – but a survey has shown more than half of senior managers continue to work from home.

In a significant boost to the campaign to entice more office workers into city centres, many companies said they had recorded an uptick in employees getting back to their desks.

The news comes in a new Daily Mail audit of 30 FTSE 100 and top firms, representing more than 150,000 employees.

High street chain Boots was among those recording a steady rise in attendance, with around a third of its office staff now back at their desks at least a few days a week. No cases of Covid-19 have been recorded among this cohort.

But a survey by the AA has found 54 per cent of senior or middle managers who normally drove to the office have continued to work from home either all or part of the time, according to The Times.   

The AA’s head of roads policy, Jack Cousens, told the paper said was ‘a big irony’ in politicians telling car commuters to get back to work while increasing pedestrian access by closing off roads – as has been seen in London. 

The motoring association called for better transport options for commuters, while also criticising the decision to hike the central London congestion charge from £11.50 to £15. 

The boss of recruitment giant Hays vowed there would be no ‘turning our back on the office’.

Alistair Cox last night said full-time remote working was unlikely to become ‘a permanent thing’.

But he also predicted offices will be closed as companies assess whether to switch permanently to a ‘hybrid’ model, where home and office working are balanced.

Yesterday it emerged Capita, one of the UK’s biggest employers, will become the first major British firm to pull out of city and town centres by closing nearly 100 offices. The Government contractor – which collects the BBC licence fee and runs the London congestion charge – is set to close more than a third of its 250 offices across Britain; its 45,000 UK staff will continue to work from home.

The news will be a major blow to Boris Johnson’s back to work campaign, which is to be launched this week.

Yesterday it also emerged that BP is planning to sell its central London headquarters as part of a permanent shift in working patterns.

The developments will heighten fears for city centre businesses, from sandwich shops and pubs to dry cleaners and hairdressers, which rely on footfall from offices.

Last week CBI boss Dame Carolyn Fairbairn said working from home had turned some commercial centres into ‘ghost towns’. But in a glimmer of hope, several firms surveyed by the Mail said either workers were starting to trickle back or that plans were being drawn-up for bigger increases.

Many said numbers returning will rest on the Government’s success at getting children back to school this week.

Auditing giant PricewaterhouseCoopers said around a third of its 24,700 office workers were now spending at least some time at their desks and that this was increasing. And insurance giant Aviva expects numbers at desks to double in the coming weeks.

Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said: ‘The Government has to lead the way and tell civil servants and companies ‘get back to work’.’

Derek Ray-Hill, from Cities Restart – a venture being launched next month to get people back to work, said: ‘Business leaders need to put on a mask, wash their hands and get back to work. They can’t keep waiting for someone else to take the lead.’

It comes after figures last week revealed only 17 per cent of staff have returned to work in the 63 biggest cities.

MailOnline has contacted the Business department for comment.