Welsh Government urged not to use North Wales police officers to enforce new workplace two-metre rule

The Welsh Government has been urged to change its mind about expecting police forces to enforce a new law to keep workers two metres apart.

North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones is backing the four chief constables in Wales who are unanimously opposed to the idea.

Under the new legislation introduced by the Welsh Government on Tuesday, companies are being told to take “reasonable measures” to ensure the health of their workers.

It means the two-metre social distancing rule will apply to any workplace, including homes, where work and repairs are being undertaken and outdoor spaces.

The new rules apply to those workplaces not already covered by the original stay-at-home rules introduced almost two weeks ago

Employers will be breaking the law if do not make sure that staff are able to maintain the two-metre physical distancing rule

But the rules will not amount to a complete ban on workers being closer than the social distancing guidelines.

Mr Jones, himself a former police inspector, says he fully supports the aim of the legislation but objects to the police being expected to enforce it.

He also claims Kit Malthouse MP, the Minister for Policing and the Fire Service, has also expressed his concern about the idea.

The legislation gives the police and councils the power to enforce the rules with fines of between £60 and £120.

Mr  Jones said: “I stand fully behind the four chief constables in Wales who have objected to this.

“I support the legislation but I am totally against the idea of it being enforce by the police.

“It is like using police officers as factory inspectors when North Wales Police and the other Welsh forces have important work of their own to do during the coronavirus crisis.

“The Health and Safety Executive and local authorities should step up to the mark here and do their job – they should take responsibility for enforcement rather than expecting the police to do their job for them.

“The police have an important job to do during normal times but now, more than ever, they need to be able to concentrate on their own role.

“I am sure the public of North Wales would far rather that our police enforce essential travel legislation rather than have them visiting factories to ensure that employees are kept two metres apart which is surely what the Health and Safety Executive should be doing.

“We have raised the matter with the Secretary of State in a conference call.

“I  support the legislation to enforce the two-metre rule within the workplace but this issue is who actually is responsible for the enforcement.

“The chief constables have urged the Welsh Government to change their guidelines as a matter of urgency and I am standing shoulder to shoulder with them on this”.

Talking about the new legislation at a press briefing on Monday, First Minister Mark Drakeford said, “To be clear, the regulations say it’s an obligation on employers to take all reasonable measures.

“So it’s not an absolute ban on people not being able to be within two meters of one another.

“In the health service, for example, a dentist carrying out treatment on you isn’t two meters away from you.

“But, they’re only close to you when they need to be close to you, and they’re away from you when they don’t need to be close to you.

“So the measures are there to reinforce the message that is already the one we’ve been giving for the last two weeks, it is nothing new when the message is about saying to employers that you must take all reasonable measures to ensure that the safety and health of your workforce come first.

“The enforcement of it, in many ways, it’ll be self enforcing, the best enforcers of this are workers themselves.

“Part of the reason why we took the decision was because we were getting too many reports individually as assembly members, from the trade unions as well, of people feeling that they weren’t safe in the workplace and everything that needed to be done was not being done.

“This sends that message to people in the workplace that we expect it to be this way, but we expect it to be done reasonably as well.”