(07 Oct 2020, 12:38 am)Adrian wrote Cleaning can never be counter productive to safety, but its only one measure. Personal hygiene (handwashing/sanitising) is just as important. There is a wealth of difference between something cleaned two months ago and two hours ago. There's plenty of material that you can read online about that.

Keeping the workplace clean is one of the Covid secure objectives. The risk assessment should outline exactly what, where and how frequently. In places like staff canteens, where you have fridge doors, kettles, taps, etc, I'd expect a risk assessment to require cleaning every hour or so during core operational hours, as they're all points that are touched frequently. Same goes for things like door handles/push pads.

The risk assessments that I've been reviewing are around 40 pages long per site and cover just about everything you can think of. Every Arriva site should have similar, and the employees should have been consulted on it.

Yeah can't dispute the cleaning it was more of a reply to someone who pretty much gave the opinion that it was the reason why it happened, we can't really comment though as it's just one bus drivers comments so we don't really know what's happening internally.

(07 Oct 2020, 12:38 am)Adrian wrote That is a bizarre interpretation of the guidance and not one that I've heard of any employer knowingly use. Whilst you cannot tell workers that "you need to self-isolate or book a test because Joe Bloggs brought Covid into the workplace", you must of course still alert workers likely to have been in contact. There should be a specific plan in the risk assessment in case of a Covid outbreak in a workplace, and even with a single case, the employer needs to report it to the local PHE health protection team.

Given the stage which Arriva Darlington appear to be at present, I would imagine that the local PHE team are in 'crisis management' - part of that will be identifying contacts, communication, etc.

If you read https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/1...ive-covid/ then there's some quotes which says that this has happened.

"None of us were told anything after the driver tested positive, the information has been vague, but people in that canteen were stood less than 2 metres from that person.
"They're saying they can't do anything because of GDPR rules - if one or two of us goes on the sick, then a bus has to be taken off the road.
“There is lot contempt for Arriva because of this,"


That being the main bit so it seems like they have been alerted that they could have been in close contact and it seems that they want more information in particular who the driver is which obviously they can't due to GDPR as they've said.

(07 Oct 2020, 12:38 am)Adrian wrote You've suggested a couple of times now that Arriva management should just shrug their shoulders at this. I wouldn't speculate as to what has or hasn't happened here, but the fact remains that employers have a *legal* responsibility to protect workers and others from risk to their health and safety. There's no ifs or buts about that - see: Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Morale doesn't come into it, but I would say that if workers are being 'shouted at' as you suggest, then this clearly is an inappropriate way to train, explain and manage health and safety in the workplace. Workers of course have a duty to comply.

I don't think that referring to a whistle-blower as a 'snitch' is particularly helpful either mind.

It's not really shrugging their shoulders it just more the integrity of the article. Reading through the lines it's drivers ignorance (and not in a nasty way) rather than Arriva not caring.

"We have been told that only a limited number of people can stay in the canteen but it is not monitored by anyone – there's only one entrance for the whole place even though there is a fire escape which could be used"

That being the main point in the article that says that they've been told what they should do and there are systems are in place so the procedures are all there but the drivers don't care and are just going in there even known they've been told not too and need someone to actually tell them to follow the rules.

Then there's:
"Drivers feel scared to ask people because there has been instances where they have asked a passenger, then the passenger has refused and then gone to the company, and they have got disciplined for it.
"They don't have your back – and with this sort of thing going on, the Covid case was inevitable. We are all scared to say or report anything."

which just kills the integrity of the whole article as is it just a bus driver who has a major gripe because of he's been disiplined over face masks? Makes you have to have a bit of caution on what you believe. Mind that said reading through the lines there's a noticeable divide between drivers and management at Darlington (which I believe has been mentioned before on here hence shortage of drivers often) that really needs sorting Covid or not.

The fact though that the union hasn't got involved, drivers are now self isolating and Arriva are reluctant to send drivers in from other depots shows that there is some level of control and it's not all down to bad management and the calling for the sacking of the management team as the initial post said is a bit harsh given the information we have.

I couldn't think of the word at the time, whistleblower is what I was thinking of though, agreed on the snitch comment tbf.