DVLA staff claim they are having to wait days before being alerted that workers that they have come into contact with have been struck down by Covid-19.
Some say they have had to wait for as long as five days before being told to self-isolate and have been in contact with others in the meantime.
DVLA bosses insist that safety of its staff remains a top priority.
However, workers say the situation is not being taken seriously enough and the agency isn’t on top of notifications from track and trace.
The DVLA has already been hit by a coronavirus outbreak at its call centre in Swansea Vale with 62 positive cases being confirmed there since December 1 – currently there are 15 people self-isolating.
A total of 352 Covid-19 cases have been identified among the workforce at the DVLA since September 1.
(Image: PA)
One DVLA worker, who did not wish to be named, said: “Staff are not being informed if they have been in close contact with someone in work who has tested positive for the virus.
“On one floor four people were sent home due to the phone app going off, however this was five days after the contact date.
“I myself had a late notification for self isolation from a contact in work, I definitely knew it was in work as the day the contact occurred I went to work and went home.
“I know the track and trace system has delays, my issue is that when a staff member gets a positive test they inform work straight away.
“At that point work knows who they have been sitting by due to seating plans and they do not inform those people to go home and isolate themselves.”
He added: “They just let them come into work for the four, five or six days the track and trace app takes to catch up.
”With these staff members possibly posing risk to their work colleagues, family and general public as they do not know they have been in contact with the virus.
”I could have been informed to isolate myself from work for six days.”
Another concerned member of staff, who also did not wish to be named, said: “Staff are being forced to work in a building with no opening windows, the air circulation system has been turned down to minimum and in parts is not even on at all.
”We cannot get fresh air. The amount of Covid cases across the agency is much, much higher than is being reported.
”The hygiene levels are very poor. Each desk has plastic screens in front of them, these are never cleaned. We are told that Public Health Wales and Swansea Council have been on site, I suspect that the areas they are being shown are selected and are not a true reflection.”
”Staff with underlying health conditions have been asked to sign ‘waivers’ which are then sent to HR for those who wish to attend work, knowing that these people suffer from severe illness.
“The stress and anxiety levels across the site are surging, there are thousands of staff passing through the building daily, there are no temperature checks being made and staff are not tested.
“Other large-scale employers are testing staff daily, DVLA failed to do this.”
But the DVLA has previously stressed that staff safety has remained its priority throughout the pandemic and that a series of changes had been brought in to protect the workforce.
The agency has taken the step of standing down a skeleton team who had been due to operate over shorter hours at the contact centre following its re-opening on December 29 until New Year.
But they have instead been stood down and placed on standby.
One way systems, perspex screens, along with staggered shift times, wearing of face coverings and social distancing and zones have been put in place.
Extra cleaning is said to be taking place between shifts to ensure that door handrails, lift buttons, toilets and turnstiles are all cleansed.
Regular checks are also being carried out on hand sanitiser stations to ensure spare solution is on offer on the site for staff to use.
A DVLA spokesman said: “The safety of our staff remains our top priority. We have extensive safety measures in place across our estate and we are continuing to work closely with the local environmental health team at Swansea Council and Public Health Wales, as we have done throughout the pandemic.
“Transmission rates are extremely high in the local community where most of our staff live.”
-- to www.walesonline.co.uk
