Pharmacy employers must notify HSE if staff pick Covid-19 infections at work: PDA

Pharmacy staff and locums are reminded to inform their employers in writing if they believe they are likely to have contracted Covid-19 while at work.

The Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) is concerned that some employers appear unwilling to comply with their logal duty to report such infections to Health & Safety Executive (HSE).

In a statement issued on Wednessday (May 6), the PDA said: "We are advising all members who believe they are likely to have contracted COVID-19 in the workplace to notify their employer in writing of this, and request a copy of the HSE report.”

It added that employers have legal responsibilities for maintaining the health and safety of their staff members at workplace and this includes reporting incidents to the relevant authority.

Following recent announcement that pharmacists would be eligible for the government's COVID-19 death-in-service compensation payments, the PDA has advised pharmacists that reporting work acquired COVID-19 infections to the HSE would be an important component in any subsequent claim put to the government scheme on behalf of the deceased.

It noted that any death that occurs as a result of COVID-19 contracted at work must be reported as a workplace fatality within 10 days of the incident.

The PDA has higlighted the following as reasonable evidence of a work acquired coronavirus infection:

• A pharmacist or pharmacy team member subsequently contracts Covid-19 after working in proximity to a colleague who has a coronavirus infection, particularly if social distancing cannot be observed in the pharmacy and PPE is not being used appropriately, or at all.
• A pharmacist or pharmacy team member contracts Covid-19 after encountering a member of the public at work who has a coronavirus infection, whether this was known at the time of the encounter or not.
• A pharmacist or pharmacy team member contracts Covid-19 from a colleague or patient after working in a hospital pharmacy department where social distancing is not possible and PPE is prioritised for other clinical areas due to supply shortages.

According to the PDA, only reasonable evidence of catching it at work is required to reach the reporting threshold, rather than conclusive proof to prove the infection.