In late-March, the coronavirus pandemic forced the UK into lockdown. Only key workers were allowed to travel to their place of work, with more and more people performing their jobs from home. In fact, by mid-June, almost half (49%) of the UK workforce was working from home.

However, on Friday 17 July, the prime minister announced that change was on the way. Having already published guidance to help businesses improve their health and safety measures, he revealed a blueprint to slowly get the UK back to ‘normal’, including bringing staff back into offices.

Both employers and employees will have reacted to this news differently. What cannot be denied is that a great many businesses now face a significant task: they must upgrade their health and safety measures to prepare for the return of the workforce.