Protective factors
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control recommends that workplaces have robust policies on social distancing, hygiene/cleaning, personal protective equipment (PPE) and contact tracing to prevent further outbreaks.
SAGE advocates that employers should run educational campaigns to support employees, by working with them, monitoring progress and collecting feedback on effectiveness and discrimination.
Remote working
The public has been advised to work from home wherever possible. However, data from the European Union estimate that only 35% of jobs can be performed at home, which means that some occupations are potentially more exposed to COVID-19 compared with others.
A survey of 120,600 UK workers showed that 29% of respondents were essential workers who continued to work outside of the home throughout the pandemic. According to a survey of 35,000 people in England, the risk of testing positive for COVID-19 was 2.5 times higher in people who worked outside of the home during lockdown.
The Office for National Statistics reported that workers in higher management have had significantly lower rates of COVID-19 related deaths compared with the general population, particularly during lockdown. This may be attributed to reduced contact with the public and being able to work from home.
SAGE has advised that working one week with contact and one week without contact (for example, through remote working) would minimise the risk of transmission. This is because transmission would be limited to employees on the same schedule and people with asymptomatic infections should become non-infectious by the end of the non-contact week.
Social distancing
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has stated that maintaining physical distance is the most important contributor to preventing occupational outbreaks, particularly when people are sharing the same confined space for extended periods of time.
Physical distancing is particularly important for protecting against aerosol transmission. Most personal protective equipment, including standard surgical face masks, do not provide much protection against aerosol transmission. This route of transmission is thought to be less frequent than contracting the virus through respiratory droplets or contact with contaminated surfaces, but it is more likely to occur in crowded or indoor spaces.
SAGE has advised that people with different networks should avoid meetings or prolonged social contact. For example, employees should avoid using different office floors. The report also notes that people providing supervision (such as managers) or support (such as IT) have the potential to spread the virus across different teams.
Hygiene and cleaning
According to SAGE and the Health and Safety Executive, employers should ensure that employees have adequate access to handwashing facilities. Workplaces should be well-ventilated and cleaned frequently. The Health and Safety Executive advises that people should reduce their contact with different surfaces and employers should discourage movement around the workplace.
There have been instances of outbreaks where workers share transport or accommodation, which can be over-crowded with poor hygiene conditions. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has highlighted this as a particular concern for seasonal or migrant workers, who may have travelled from areas with a higher incidence of COVID-19, and who work in jobs with reduced access to handwashing facilities (such as farm work).
Personal protective equipment (PPE)
Personal protective equipment (PPE) refers to equipment that protects users against health or safety risks at work. Many workplaces have introduced new PPE protocols in order to protect workers from COVID-19.
An academic study of over 810,000 people has shown that PPE can reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19, provided that it is widely available and of sufficient quality. However, re-using PPE will substantially reduce its protection due to self-contamination or the breakdown of materials. This indicates the need for clear protocols on access to PPE and disinfection prior to re-use.
The Health and Safety Executive has published guidance on the use of PPE for employees in non-healthcare settings. Since evidence is limited, the UK Government advises that good hand hygiene and social distancing is key to minimising the risk of infection.
SAGE recommends wearing a face covering if 2 metre social distancing is not possible, which is now required in many workplaces. Face coverings can help to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 by reducing the spread of respiratory droplets. You can read our rapid response on COVID-19 and face coverings here.
Testing
Widespread workplace testing is required to track and predict the spread of COVID-19. A lack of adequate testing may lead to infections being missed and higher rates of transmission, which is particularly problematic for asymptomatic cases. Under-reporting reduces the ability to understand the contribution of different workplace settings, which is essential for mitigating measures.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control notes that testing in isolation is not enough to prevent workplace outbreaks. One academic study found that testing was only likely to be effective in high-risk work environments if tests were administered daily. Weekly testing was concluded to have limited value unless it was administered alongside other interventions (such as social distancing).
Inconsistencies in testing can make it difficult to estimate the comparative risks of COVID-19 in some workplaces compared with others. For example, the proportion of cases identified in the healthcare sector compared with other forms of essential work may be inflated as testing was prioritised in these settings. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has commented that some European countries did not consistently report whether cases detected related to healthcare professionals or residents in social-care institutions.