Safety Chiefs Have Today Warned Workers Will Not blindly Obey Boris Johnson s Calls For A Return To The Office As Some Of The County s Biggest Firms Say Fewer Than 50 Per Cent Of Staff Could Come Back Because Of Social Distancing
Safety chiefs have today warned workers will not 'blindly obey' Boris Johnson's calls for a return to the office, as some of the county's biggest firms say fewer than 50 per cent of staff could come back because of social distancing.
Chairman of the British Safety Council Lawrence Waterman said he understood the importance of workers returning to the office, but said many were staying away due to the government's social distancing rules.
It comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson today urged workers to return to the office following the loosening of coronavirus lockdown measures.
Meanwhile, some companies, including accountancy giant Deloitte and law firm Slaughter and May, have allowed employees back but others have been reluctant to act.
Even the firms who are getting staff to return say they will still only be at less than half-capacity to obey up to two-metre social distance guidelines to stop the virus's spread.
The Government has recently relaxed the rules to 'one-metre plus', but HR chiefs and management insist on following the best practice of two meters.
The lack of numbers in the offices spell disaster for High Street shops, who are already on their knees after buyers stayed away during the pandemic.
And other smaller businesses including cafes and restaurants, are also set to find themselves starved of customers due to the lack of footfall from office blocks.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson today urged again: 'People should start to think about getting back to work'.
MP Andrew Bridgen also warned: 'The alternative to companies bringing people back in is bankruptcy and bankruptcy of others that rely on them.'
Among the major buildings currently under construction in the capital are 1 Undershaft (highlighted red, thuê xe ô tô tự lái theo tháng left) and the Diamond (highlighted red, right).
Construction of both may slow due to economic slowdown after lockdown
Easing of the lockdown led to the 30 biggest employers in the City of London telling police they only intend to bring a maximum of 40 per cent of their workforce back.
A source at one of them told the MailOnline: 'We are slowly increasing people in the office and we are currently at around 15 per cent.
'For the next few months we are not going to be over half-full, but the aim is to build to that.
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'We have got to keep the two-metre distancing between members of staff's desks, which means the capacity of the offices are greatly reduced.'
However Mr Waterman was critical of the Prime Minister and said workers would not ‘blindly obey' pressure from him to return.
Mr Waterman, who is the former head of safety for the Olympic delivery authority, said he understood he was trying to kickstart the economy, but thought he had failed to explain how.
And he added he believed offices may never be as full as they were before coronavirus.
He told the MailOnline: ‘Asking someone to blindly obey is not going to work compared to making them understand the argument.
‘I think Mr Johnson has got it the wrong way round - he should be giving people the information, then asking them to make the right decision.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, pictured today with CEO London Ambulance Service Garrett Emmerson, said workers needed to get back to the office
<div class="art-ins mol-factbox floatRHS news" data-version="2" id="mol-46ac96d0-c521-11ea-a10f-919375e811f9" website Johnson urge staff into offices as firms will only return 50%