Concerns have been raised about employees forced to go to workplaces that are not compatible with Covid during the blockade.
Between January 6 and 14, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) received 2,945 complaints about safety issues.
The head of the UK’s unions has asked ministers to crack down on employers “who violate Covid security rules”.
The HSE said it has stepped up its work to verify and support companies during the pandemic.
The Observer reports that no company has been prosecuted and fined for breaking coronavirus safety rules in the workplace since the start of the last national blockade in England, although an HSE spokeswoman has said figures on the enforcement action, which may including verbal advice or a written warning, cannot be verified until Monday.
She added that her inspectors “continue to circulate, alerting employers and verifying that they are complying with health and safety laws”.
The HSE introduced telephone checks in response to the coronavirus crisis, she said.
“We continue to increase the number of spot checks and visits that we are making so that we can reach as many companies as possible during the current blocking period.”
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “If the government is stepping up enforcement, ministers should start with employers who violate Covid’s safety rules.”
She also called for an increase in resources for the HSE “to prevent dishonest employers from putting employees at risk. Every employer needs to know that an inspection can happen at any time.”
The HSE conducted more than 32,300 local visits during the pandemic.
The government must also make it clear that everyone who can work from home must do so, added O’Grady.
What are the rules for working?
Under current blocking restrictions, people across the UK who can work effectively from home must do so. They should only travel to the workplace if they cannot do their job remotely.
This includes healthcare professionals, teachers, childcare providers, transportation workers, people working in construction or manufacturing, funeral directors and essential retail workers.
For workplaces that remain open in England, employers must “conduct an appropriate Covid-19 risk assessment” to develop a “specific” strategy to prevent the spread of the virus.
In England, the guidelines lay down strict measures that employers must follow, such as minimizing the number of unnecessary visits to the office, frequent cleaning of workplaces and ensuring that employees observe a social distance of 2 m (6 feet) whenever possible.
There are similar guidelines for employers in a range of sectors in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Read more from our Explainers team here.
A government spokesman said: “The law is clear that people can only leave home to work if they cannot reasonably work from home.
“We work with unions, companies and medical experts to produce comprehensive Covid protection guidance so that companies with permission to remain open can do so in the safest possible way for employees and customers. This is kept under review as our understanding of the virus develops. “
Recent research conducted by the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) also suggests that some employees have faced pressure to return to the workplace, despite a recent positive coronavirus test.
Of the 1,172 UK workers surveyed, four out of ten said they worked within 10 days after a positive result.
More than 10% of respondents also said they had received orders on the spot, when they could have worked “easily” and “safely” at home.
‘It’s really demoralizing’
Brian (fictitious name), works cleaning portable toilets on construction sites in southeastern England.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live that he doesn’t feel safe, but he feels “forced to keep working so he can pay my bills”.
On the website where he works most of the time, he has not seen a “large number of masks” and says he was laughed at for wearing a mask and visor.
“It’s really demoralizing because you laugh anyway because of the job you’re at.”
He says the situation is “50% worse” than when construction sites were closed during England’s first national blockade.
Due to his and his wife’s concerns, he asked if he could be excused, but his company said he would only be entitled to sickness benefits.
“Morale is on the ground,” he says.
Alan Lockey, head of RSA’s future work program, suggested that workers “feel forced to put themselves and others at risk of contracting the virus” due to unsafe work and pressure from employers.
He also asked Chancellor Rishi Sunak to end the “health and food on the table trade-off” by allowing self-isolated workers to access the government license scheme and maintaining the £ 20 per week increase in universal credit, which is due to expire in April.