Research led by Kent Law School Professor Lydia Hayes (in collaboration with UNISON in the North West of England) shows severe breaches in Health and Safety regulations for social care workers.<\/p>\n
Findings from a survey<\/a> of 2,600 care workers employed in over 1,000 different care-settings reveal widespread fear about the transmission of SAR-CoV-2 virus and serious breaches of legal safety standards.<\/p>\n A vast majority of\u00a0care workers feel unprotected at work, they believe they will not be paid wages if they self-isolate and care workers are battling with the\u00a0consequences of confusion at policy level\u00a0about the use and availability of PPE.<\/p>\n The research project, ‘Social Care Regulation at Work in England, Scotland and Wales<\/a>‘, is funded by the Wellcome Trust and led by Principal Investigator Professor Hayes. It connects law and guidance about health and safety with data on the reality in care home, home care and learning disability support services. There are evident gaps at policy level in knowledge about social care practice, potentially putting lives at risk. The researchers recommend urgent action by government at national and local level to appoint care workers to problem-solving roles so as to use their expertise in making decisions about the use and distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE) and the use of staff resources.<\/p>\n The research revealed that 8 in 10 care workers\u00a0believe they would not be paid wages if they had to self-isolate.\u00a0Fear of being in poverty\u00a0means some are\u00a0not self-isolating, causing virus transmission risks. The report calls on the UK Government to urgently intervene to\u00a0ensure care workers are guaranteed\u00a0normal wage incomes when in self isolation.<\/p>\n The report also identifies a large gap between the\u00a0safety standards required in law\u00a0and the lack of safe working practices reported by care workers, a\u00a0lack of senior-level policy understanding\u00a0about social care work, and\u00a0care workers\u2019 concerns\u00a0suggest that disregard for regulatory standards has directly\u00a0increased risks of SARS-CoV-2 infection.<\/p>\n Findings in brief:<\/p>\n Findings in full are available online.<\/a><\/p>\n Professor Hayes said: \u2018Urgent action is needed by government at national and local levels to prevent untold excess deaths of care workers\u00a0and people in need of care and support. If we were to buy into the idea that this is a\u00a0\u201cwar\u201d on coronavirus, care workers and those for whom they provide care and support are being\u00a0unlawfully set up to take a direct hit. Care workers are lauded as \u201cheroes\u201d while their\u00a0rights to health, safety and the protection of their lives are not being prioritised. Our research details a widespread and\u00a0systematic downplaying and disregard of the risks of infection\u00a0in care-settings.\u00a0 Care workers must be urgently appointed to decision-making roles at all levels of our social care system and they must be\u00a0protected from poverty\u00a0through the funding of\u00a0full occupational sick pay\u00a0so that they can self-isolate.\u2019<\/p>\n Professor Hayes<\/a> is author of the multi-award winning monograph Stories of Care: A Labour of Law. Gender and class at work<\/em> (2017) Palgrave Macmillan.<\/p>\n Follow the project team on Twitter: @SCRaWork<\/a><\/p>\n This post is adapted from a report originally posted on Kent’s News Centre <\/a>by Sam Wood<\/em><\/p>\n\n
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