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Bosses urged not to be short sighted when it comes to workplace safety

Bosses urged not to be short sighted when it comes to workplace safety

A leading employment lawyer is calling for businesses to consider cultural, religious and medical needs when providing health and safety instructions to staff in the workplace. The call comes after construction firm Mears banned its workers from having beards, citing health and safety grounds.

Yunus Lunat, partner and head of employment law at Leeds-based Ison Harrison is urging a common sense approach from bosses to avoid potential religious and cultural pitfalls.

He added that making decisions based on making savings could alienate staff and create unnecessary divisions in the workplace.

Construction firm Mears’ recent ‘beard ban’ requires all its workers to be clean shaven in order to “wear appropriate dust masks effectively” with exceptions only made if a worker can’t shave for medical reasons, if a dust mask cannot be worn for medical reasons or a person has a beard for religious purposes.


The firm declared that exceptions would only be considered on presentation of either a medical certificate or a letter from a place of worship.

Mr Lunat is concerned that the move could see other constructions firms following suit resulting in an attempt to ban Sikhs from wearing turbans in a similar situation to the banning of headscarves at work following a European court ruling in March this year. The European Court of Justice ruled that companies were able to ban “the visible wearing of any political, philosophical or religious sign”.

The ruling made clear that if the ban was only applied to Muslim members of staff it could still constitute discrimination. In order to enforce, companies need to have a pre – existing policy in prohibiting the wearing of religious symbols and would not be able to ban staff from wearing headscarves on the “wishes of a customer”.

Mr Lunat commented: “For a major national employer in the construction industry to make such a workplace decree under the guise of safety of its employees is staggering. Whilst concerns relating to safety may be plausible one questions how sporting a beard can pose a real safety risk on a construction site, unless construction sites have taken to preparing pre – packed meals and food items? Surely the construction industry has more pressing safety concerns than worrying about beards?

“This is a delicate issue especially in the current climate. There are potentially huge cultural, religious and personal issues to be considered here with sensitivity being the focus not just cost. Workers have been issued a like it or lump it ultimatum with no consultation whatsoever and threats of disciplinary action should the new workplace rules not be properly adhered to.

“Before implementing any workplace safety policy that involves the wearing of specialist equipment, employers such as Mears should carry out a full consultation. To avoid any contentious issues it is crucial that the safety policy recognises the diversity of the workforce, its aims to ensure diverse recruitment and the principle that workers should be consulted and given a choice of correctly specified types of safety masks so they can choose the most suitable to meet their own needs.”

For more information visit www.isonharrison.co.uk