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COVID in the workplacem

  • 01-10-2020 9:38pm
    #1
    Fakediamond
    Registered Users Posts: 1,054 ✭✭✭


    Do you think that staff should be notified if there is a positive case of COVID detected in their place of work?

    The reason I ask is that I came upon guidelines issued by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and applicable to all Civil Servants. Apparently staff will not be told, it’s to be business as usual, unless you get contacted by the HSE, which can take days, or longer. No special cleaning to be carried out, unless advised to do so by HSE (eventually). Seems lax not to at least give offices, kitchens or canteen space a good clean once the employer has been notified by the employee of a positive test. Why would you wait until the HSE make contact, they’re already swamped and way behind in the contact tracing?


Comments

  • #2
    EverythingGood
    Registered Users Posts: 2,003 ✭✭✭EverythingGood


    why should you be told if a lad you never cone in contact with has covid? he/she could be in a different building, floor etc and never cross your path. HSE will contact you if required,


  • #3
    bobbyy gee
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,306 ✭✭✭bobbyy gee


    bathrooms and kitchen should be cleaned twice a day


  • #4
    bobbyy gee
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,306 ✭✭✭bobbyy gee


    here's what uk says


    https://www.hseni.gov.uk/topic/covid-19-advice-and-guidance-places-work


  • #5
    Fakediamond
    Registered Users Posts: 1,054 ✭✭✭Fakediamond


    EverythingGood wrote: »
    why should you be told if a lad you never cone in contact with has covid? he/she could be in a different building, floor etc and never cross your path. HSE will contact you if required,


    It doesn’t matter if someone is in the same shared open plan office, they won’t be told. They may eventually be told by HSE contact tracing but that could take days or weeks.


  • #6
    LegacyUser
    Registered Users Posts: 166,026 ✭✭✭✭LegacyUser


    I am on the final stretch of isolation having tested positive for covid 19. I have just been informed that due to concerns by other staff ( it is a small office) I need to have a negative test before I return which my employer will pay for. I initially said I understood when I had the conversation and I have a private test booked, but now I'm feeling its a bit unfair. I have complied with all the HSE instructions and guidelines but was notified as a close contact and still got covid. I have isolated 100% didn't even go out my front door for the entire period of isolation and my symptoms have been clear for the past 48 hours and I never got a high temp. Shouldn't this that be enough for my employer?


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  • #7
    Fakediamond
    Registered Users Posts: 1,054 ✭✭✭Fakediamond


    Lightsleeper wrote: »
    I am on the final stretch of isolation having tested positive for covid 19. I have just been informed that due to concerns by other staff ( it is a small office) I need to have a negative test before I return which my employer will pay for. I initially said I understood when I had the conversation and I have a private test booked, but now I'm feeling its a bit unfair. I have complied with all the HSE instructions and guidelines but was notified as a close contact and still got covid. I have isolated 100% didn't even go out my front door for the entire period of isolation and my symptoms have been clear for the past 48 hours and I never got a high temp. Shouldn't this that be enough for my employer?


    Well as long as you have followed public health advice in relation to number of days isolation etc, then I would say your employer probably has no legal right to demand a test. In fact, unless your workmates were identified as close contacts, or you told them yourself, your employer had no right to tell anyone that you have COVID. Having said that, I don’t actually know the guidelines in relation to getting a clear test after infection.

    When I put up my original post, it was not so much to identify individuals with COVID, it was a query relating to H&S and ensuring that the space was adequately cleaned, which never happened in the scenario I outlined. Even though printer/photocopier etc were shared, nobody told the cleaner that there was a positive case and to give the place a good clean.

    I hope you’re OK and you get sorted either way. I suppose we’re all trying to manage our anxiety about contracting COVID and can get a bit crazy about our exposure to risk.


  • #8
    sammyjo90
    Registered Users Posts: 13,135 ✭✭✭✭sammyjo90


    I thought it was a HSE requirement to keep a record of people you come in close contact with at work?

    At work we have a tracker you have to fill everyday to record if you came in close contact with anyone.
    That way when the person who tests positive tells work that they have it they can use that tracker to tell anyone deemed a close contact.
    We are never told the exact person. Just that you have been a close contact of someone at work who has it and should get tested.
    The company then does a deep clean of the area said person was in.
    Thought it was the same everywhere


  • #9
    SuperRabbit
    Registered Users Posts: 698 ✭✭✭SuperRabbit


    we weren't told and i had mild covid symptoms, if i had known i had a close-ish contact I would have gone for a test and self isolated... but i guess they knew that and they didn't want any more staff to be off sick


    I'm so upset about it. The symptoms went away then came back worse then went away and came back worse, long story, couldn't get tested at that point because i was so sick I couldn't walk to the testing centre, I'll never know if it was covid. In the meantime they had me going into work! when my temperature read as being high they told me the thermometer was faulty

    Lightsleeper it's not about "fairness", no one is punishing you, they are trying to stay safe, I wish my employer was like that


  • #10
    Helgagirl
    Registered Users Posts: 45 ✭Helgagirl


    Lightsleeper wrote: »
    I am on the final stretch of isolation having tested positive for covid 19. I have just been informed that due to concerns by other staff ( it is a small office) I need to have a negative test before I return which my employer will pay for. I initially said I understood when I had the conversation and I have a private test booked, but now I'm feeling its a bit unfair. I have complied with all the HSE instructions and guidelines but was notified as a close contact and still got covid. I have isolated 100% didn't even go out my front door for the entire period of isolation and my symptoms have been clear for the past 48 hours and I never got a high temp. Shouldn't this that be enough for my employer?

    I mean this with no disrespect to you, but a lot of people would say they had isolated etc. but maybe wouldn't have, so your employer is just being responsible and fair to the other employees. If you put yourself that you were the employee still in work and someone else was in your current position would you feel comfortable if they had no test done before they returned to work?


  • #11
    Fakediamond
    Registered Users Posts: 1,054 ✭✭✭Fakediamond


    sammyjo90 wrote: »
    I thought it was a HSE requirement to keep a record of people you come in close contact with at work?

    At work we have a tracker you have to fill everyday to record if you came in close contact with anyone.
    That way when the person who tests positive tells work that they have it they can use that tracker to tell anyone deemed a close contact.
    We are never told the exact person. Just that you have been a close contact of someone at work who has it and should get tested.
    The company then does a deep clean of the area said person was in.
    Thought it was the same everywhere

    I wish all employers were so responsible, as far as I can see, most of them take the position that they are following HSE guidelines, which lets them get away with a lot. This is especially true now when the HSE is unable to keep up, but employers have not adjusted their guidelines.


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  • #12
    Dav010
    Registered Users Posts: 13,998 ✭✭✭✭Dav010


    Every persons medical history/condition is confidential, Covid has not changed that. Therefore it is out of the question for an employer to inform/imply employees of the Covid status of another employee.

    If an employer is informed that an employee tests positive, the HSE have risk assessment policies which the employer needs to follow. This includes discussions with the person who tests positive to assess exposure to other employees, and the public who may have come in contact on site.

    Does “deep cleaning” work when compared to the protocols which workplaces are required to follow? The minute the workplace becomes accessible again, there is a risk of transmission from people who may be positive but symptomless.


  • #13
    Mrs OBumble
    Registered Users Posts: 25,665 ✭✭✭✭Mrs OBumble


    If everyone can see that Dav010 is unexpectedly away from work, and everyone else in the team gets a phone call saying "You are the close contact of someone with Covid-19, please get a test", then all but the dumbest team members will have worked out that Dav010 likely has Covid.

    The employer has obligations to all employees, regarding both physical and mental health. If other employees say "the possibility of working with someone who may still have Covid is making us stressed", then the employer needs to be seen to be addressing this.

    And it's pretty normal to not be allowed to return to work after any serious illness without a doctor's note saying you're fit to work again.


  • #14
    partnership
    Registered Users Posts: 303 ✭✭partnership


    Lightsleeper wrote: »
    I am on the final stretch of isolation having tested positive for covid 19. I have just been informed that due to concerns by other staff ( it is a small office) I need to have a negative test before I return which my employer will pay for. I initially said I understood when I had the conversation and I have a private test booked, but now I'm feeling its a bit unfair. I have complied with all the HSE instructions and guidelines but was notified as a close contact and still got covid. I have isolated 100% didn't even go out my front door for the entire period of isolation and my symptoms have been clear for the past 48 hours and I never got a high temp. Shouldn't this that be enough for my employer?

    Please be aware that you may test positive even after completing your isolation period. HSE advise is not to test anyone for about 12 weeks after testing positive for this reason. People are caught needing negative result for travel and can't get. You are not infectious after ten days so employer cannot stop you returning to work. If they do they should pay you.


  • #15
    Lux23
    Registered Users Posts: 7,134 ✭✭✭Lux23


    Can they not facilitate you working from home? I think that is the bigger question.


  • #16
    skallywag
    Registered Users Posts: 2,985 ✭✭✭skallywag


    In our case every person who was in contact with a confirmed case is informed ASAP (by a crisis management team), although the identity of the person is not officially revealed. That said in any cases which we have had up until now there has been no mystery as the person in question has themselves openly told their contacts themselves as well.


  • #17
    Fakediamond
    Registered Users Posts: 1,054 ✭✭✭Fakediamond


    skallywag wrote: »
    In our case every person who was in contact with a confirmed case is informed ASAP (by a crisis management team), although the identity of the person is not officially revealed. That said in any cases which we have had up until now there has been no mystery as the person in question has themselves openly told their contacts themselves as well.
    My employer is still relying on being contacted by the HSE contact tracing team, which is way behind at this stage. Even when they know there is a positive case in the office, the wait for the HSE to tell them what to do.


  • #18
    skallywag
    Registered Users Posts: 2,985 ✭✭✭skallywag


    Fakediamond wrote: »
    My employer is still relying on being contacted by the HSE contact tracing team, which is way behind at this stage. Even when they know there is a positive case in the office, the wait for the HSE to tell them what to do.

    I am not sure about the exact legality, but from a responsibility perspective that is pretty terrible in my opinion. If they know that a positive was in close contact with work colleagues then they surely have a moral and professional obligation at least to inform people.


  • #19
    Fakediamond
    Registered Users Posts: 1,054 ✭✭✭Fakediamond


    skallywag wrote: »
    I am not sure about the exact legality, but from a responsibility perspective that is pretty terrible in my opinion. If they know that a positive was in close contact with work colleagues then they surely have a moral and professional obligation at least to inform people.
    They reckon they’re covered as public health advice is that contact tracing will be in touch if there are close contacts.


  • #20
    skallywag
    Registered Users Posts: 2,985 ✭✭✭skallywag


    Fakediamond wrote: »
    They reckon they’re covered as public health advice is that contact tracing will be in touch if there are close contacts.

    Well they may be covered legally etc. but from a moral obligation it is pretty disgraceful, in my opinion at least. There is a huge strain on the system at the moment, meaning that contact tracing calls could take days. Whereas they will know immediately who was in contact with who.


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