Staff have been encouraged to raise any Covid-related concerns they have with the lead worker representative at their workplace.

This comes after reports from offices where people feel that there’s not enough being done to extend home working arrangements or follow Covid safety guidelines in the workplace.

Under the terms of the Covid-19 safety guidance, published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, each Government department and office should have appointed a Covid lead worker representative. 

This is required under a national protocol agreed by unions, employers and the Government through the country’s main social dialogue forum, the Labour-Employer Economic Forum (LEEF).

Fórsa has repeatedly stressed the importance of raising Covid-related concerns with the workplace representative. This relates to concerns around following of safety guidelines at the workplace or issues around close contacts and positive confirmed cases at work.

Fórsa assistant general secretary Seán Carabini said: “It is important that people continue to do this as this is one of the key systems by which management are kept informed of Covid-related issues.

“It is important that when union committees or officials raise issues related to Covid that there is documented evidence of members having raised it already through the Covid worker reps. It makes the urgency of the issue more apparent.

“We have had examples of offices where people don’t feel that enough is being done to extend work from home arrangements. That should be put to the Covid worker rep as it is clearly a Covid matter.

“The more people that raise it, the more difficult it will be for such concerns to be ignored,” he said.