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Covid-19 Pandemic

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 3 June 2020

Wednesday, 3 June 2020

Questions (417)

Gary Gannon

Question:

417. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the guidelines given to supermarkets in cases in which members of their staff have been diagnosed with Covid-19 but have recently been carrying out their duties on the premises. [9516/20]

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Written answers

The national Return to Work Safely Protocol is designed to support employers and workers to put measures in place that will prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace. The Protocol should be used by all workplaces to adapt their workplace procedures and practices to comply fully with the COVID-19 related public health protection measures identified as necessary by the HSE and the Department of Health. It is operating in parallel with existing workplace health and safety statutory requirements.

I would emphasise that, in the first instance, employers and workers have a responsibility to actively and jointly take responsibility for applying, and adhering to, the procedures and practices set out in the Protocol designed to protect the health and safety of all concerned.

As a first step the Protocol states that all employers should develop a COVID-19 Response Plan and it also specifically sets out the steps that all workplaces, which would of course include supermarkets, should take when dealing with a suspected case of COVID-19 in the workplace. I would also point out that the Protocol makes it clear that workers themselves have a responsibility to monitor their own well-being in relation to COVID-19 and to self-isolate at home and contact their GP for further advice if they display any signs or symptoms of COVID-19.

Separately, the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) has produced a COVID-19 Retail Protection and Improvement Guide which provides practical guidance on how staff diagnosed with Covid-19 should respond but also how other members of staff should be monitored and advised on what is expected of them. This guidance, along with other sector specific material is available to download free of charge from the NSAI website www.nsia.ie.

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