Beer delivery workers call for clear health & safety guidelines as lockdown eases

New health and safety guidelines are needed for delivery drivers, draymen, and warehouse staff as the country’s lockdown measures are eased, trade union Unite has said.

Unite the Union has called for a summit of delivery companies, such as KNDL, Matthew Clark and Tradeteam Ltd to draw up a uniform strategy for when pubs and restaurants can reopen fully

Draymen will face new challenges when it comes to helping pubs get back on their feet, according to the union, due to the fact that many venues will need to dispose of beer that has been left sitting in kegs for months.

The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) said that many as 70 million pints of beer in UK pubs will have to be destroyed after they were forced to shut on 20 March.

Unite members are only used to removing empty barrels from pub cellars, but may need to alleviate them of much heavier unused stock in July, when they are set to reopen.

The BBPA issued guidelines last month on the destruction of spoilt beer, which now be done remotely with out the need for an Authorised Company Representative (ACR) from the brewery, cider producer or winery to be present.

However, Destroying beer remotely at licensed premises is an undertaking that cannot be considered without the approval of the owning brewer.

Unite national officer for the food and drink industry Joe Clarke said: “Currently, we have full kegs in cellars with millions of gallons in barrels full of potentially stale beer. Our dray members are not currently geared up to removing full 22 gallon barrels as they usually remove empties.

“This is a major issue – and why health & safety must be paramount. It would not be permissible to remove these heavy barrels under the current operating practices.

Clarke is hoping to persuade industry leaders to have a “comprehensive discussion” on how to resolve new dilemmas created by months of forced closure such as these.

“Health & safety issues should be negotiated before there is any consideration to possible redundancies and the future of the job retention scheme (JRS).”

“More broadly, the government needs to come up with a coherent joined-up package to underpin the future viability of the UK’s 40,000 pubs on which the drinks logistics industry relies on.”

the drinks business has contacted Matthew Clark for comment.