Bakkavor faces investigation over face coverings issued to protect workers against coronavirus

• Bakkavor told the GMB union it had issued workers with balaclavas and neck snoods as part of PPE measures

• In the leaked video, the manager also told staff that social distancing wasn’t possible in the factory

• The manufacturer told The Grocer it fully complied with the latest government safety advice

The Health & Safety Executive is looking into claims from the GMB union that Bakkavor misled staff about the effectiveness of protective face coverings from transmission of the coronavirus.

The complaint centres on alleged discrepancies in emails between Bakkavor and GMB and a secretly filmed video of a Bakkavor manager, leaked to The Guardian and ITV earlier this month.

Bakkavor told the union in an email, seen by The Grocer, it had issued balaclavas and neck snoods to workers in London as part of PPE measures, “even though there is no scientific evidence that these offer protection against Covid-19 infection”.

In the leaked video, a Bakkavor operations manager tells workers at the north London factory the virus spreads through the mouth and nose and “you should be safe” using the snoods.

The manager also added that social distancing wasn’t possible in the factory.

“We are writing to formally raise this with you directly, because the company has misled staff as to the effectiveness of the snoods,” a GMB officer writes in a letter to the HSE.

“This raises the real prospect that staff have felt able to mitigate social distancing best practice under the misapprehension that the snoods offered protection,” the letter added.

“We would request the HSE investigates Bakkavor via unannounced visits, including liaising with GMB health and safety reps when it does so.”

Bakkavor, which employs 17,000 staff in 25 factories and supplies freshly prepared foods to Tesco, Sainsbury’s and M&S, told The Grocer it fully complied with the latest government safety advice. A spokesman added it recognised, based on scientific evidence, face masks or coverings had “no benefit outside of clinical environments”.

“However, our employees have told us they would feel more comfortable wearing some sort of face covering, so we have issued individual, washable neck snoods to everyone for them to wear, if they want to,” the spokesman said. “However, this is not compulsory.”

The manufacturer added social distancing measures were in place “as far as is reasonably possible”, in line with government advice for food processing plants, and it was working with colleagues on mitigating steps where this was not practicable.

Bakkavor has also developed a lightweight, disposable visor, in partnership with a packaging supplier, which it has been trialling this week at four sites before rolling out further next week.

“Our priority has always been the health, safety and welfare of our colleagues and those affected by what we do,” the spokesman said. “We are a chilled food business, and we therefore already have stringent systems and procedures in place at all our sites to identify and manage risk.

“Our priority is to support food supply in this country to ensure there is food on the supermarket shelves and to protect jobs in our workforce as fully as possible.

“We have reached out to the GMB union locally. We respect organisations have differing viewpoints, but now is the time for sensible discussion at a time of national emergency.”

A HSE spokesman said initial enquiries into the GMB complaint were being made, which was normal practice before deciding whether an investigation should be launched or not.

“We can confirm we have received a letter raising concerns about Bakkavor, which we are considering,” a statement from the government agency said.

“While social distancing is fundamentally a public health measure introduced to reduce the spread of infection, we recognise the concerns raised on social distancing within the workplace and are in contact with trade unions and are taking concerns seriously. HSE is constantly reviewing how we are supporting the national effort to tackle COVID-19 and we continue to protect Britain’s workforce.

“We want to remind all employers that there is no change to expectations for protecting people at work, as set out in HSE guidance, and we will make enquiries when concerns are raised.”

GMB also sent a letter this week to the major supermarkets, the FDF and Defra calling for an emergency Covid-19 supply chain summit to implement minimum industry standards during the outbreak.