THE TUC has stepped up its campaign for “shockingly negligent” Tory ministers to reclassify Covid-19 as an occupational disease to protect workers. 

The move would have “important consequences for workplace safety and the support working people are eligible for if they suffer long-term damage to their health,” the union body said in a new report. 

Britain is lagging behind other countries such as France, Australia and China, where the virus is already officially considered an industrial issue, the TUC said. 

When a disease is prescribed as occupational, bosses must report cases to the Health & Safety Executive and local authorities, who can then work with employers and unions to improve workplace protection and prevention.

Prescribing an illness can also benefit workers by giving them access to the industrial injuries scheme, which is a “gateway to benefits and compensation that help people living with injury, ill health, disablement, and care requirements,” the TUC noted.

General secretary Frances O’Grady warned that low-paid key workers are at greater risk of suffering the devastating consequences of contracting coronavirus. 

“If you become sick due to your work, with life-changing consequences, you should get proper support.

“But ministers have still not added Covid to the list of occupational diseases. Two years into this pandemic, that is shocking negligence, and it leaves workers unfairly exposed.

“Covid must be added as soon as possible. If it’s added, the reporting rules will help make workplaces safer, and people who catch Covid at work with life-changing consequences will qualify for the support they need.”

Existing evidence shows that the virus meets the qualifying rules for an occupational illness, the union body says.

In March last year, the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council published evidence stating that people in some occupations, such as social care, nursing, bus and taxi driving, food processing, retail work and security, face double the risk of catching Covid-19.

This is supported by Office for National Statistics data, which shows that some workers are more likely to become infected with coronavirus than others.

The TUC said its own research also shows that safer homeworking arrangements are less accessible to lower-paid employees due to class divides.