Scrapping face masks poses risk to workers, says SOM

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Ending the legal requirement to wear a face covering will pose a risk to some workers, the Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM) has said. The warning came in a statement released after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that all Covid-19 restrictions and measures, including mask wearing and social distancing, will end on 19 July. SOM reiterated that employers’ health and safety responsibilities will continue after so-called “freedom day”, and that they should still consider how to mitigate both biological and psychological health risks to workers. “Ending the legal requirement to wear a face covering will present a risk in some working environments, in particular for front line workers,” SOM said. “The impact of this higher risk must be mitigated – for example through the appropriate level of PPE, adequate ventilation and social distancing.” On Monday, Johnson and chief medical officer for England Professor Chris Whitty emphasised that it would be left up to individuals to decide when it would be appropriate to wear a face covering. Examples given by Professor Whitty included when in a crowded indoor area, or indoors with close proximity to other people; when required to do so by a “competent authority”; and when someone else was uncomfortable with others not wearing a mask. The Unite union has called the government's decision to remove face covering requirements as