Publication from Siân Berry: Letter to Group Chief Executive from Clarion Housing Group

Key information

Publication type: General

Publication date: Wednesday 10 February 2021

Dear Clare,

Worker protection during the coronavirus pandemic

I am writing to you following conversations with representatives of Unite the Union Housing Workers branch, who have members at Clarion Housing Group working on housing repairs.

They are concerned that staff are undertaking non-emergency repairs in homes where there are risks to their health. These include reports of being sent to homes where people have known COVID-19 cases, and not feeling able to remove themselves from jobs where they arrive to find relevant safety precautions have not been taken. In addition, it appears some residents with positive tests have been unable to cancel appointments. This concerns me as any kind of unsafe contact not only puts workers at risk but also Clarion Housing tenants if staff then visit subsequent homes.

As the largest housing association in the country, I hope you will join the majority of other housing associations, councils and other landlords who have paused major works and nonessential repairs under lockdown. And I would also be grateful if you could share with me the advice being given both the householders and repair staff about the precautions to take when workers visit homes.

In my work at the London Assembly I am also concerned about the safety of workers who have to enter other homes to carry out essential tasks such as emergency repairs.

This is supported by data from the Office of National Statistics data on men and deaths involving COVID-19 and occupation, which shows that six of the nine major occupational groups had statistically significantly higher rates of death involving the COVID-19 compared with the rate of COVID-19 among men of the same age in the population. Men working in skilled trades occupations are fourth place on that list. [1]

I am pushing for such workers to be included as a higher priority within the vaccine programme, under improved criteria that include the risk of unavoidable occupational exposure as well as the risk of serious disease based on age and personal medical history and vulnerability. I hope that you might join me in making this call on behalf of any workers affected within your staff too, and look forward to hearing from you on this point in addition to my questions above regarding non-emergency repairs.

Yours sincerely,

Sian Berry