// Sports Direct accused of failure to provide masks or gloves at Derbyshire warehouse
// Warehouse staff have complained that their health has not been prioritised
A Sports Direct distribution centre in the East Midlands has reportedly breached social distancing rules and failed to provide its workers with masks or gloves amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The sportswear retailer, which is owned by Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group, has seen staff at its Derbyshire warehouse complain of its failure to prioritise their health, The Sunday Mirror reported.
The Shirebrook distribution centre employs up to 4000 workers, who were pictured last week to be gathering in large groups without masks or gloves.
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Staff have also had to queue up to take turns using touchscreens.
Meanwhile, one staff member said there are no hand sanitising stations, masks or gloves available – and shift patterns have made social distancing “impossible”.
Described as a “ticking time-bomb” staff said that they have not seen cleaners disinfect the facilities and they do not get temperature checks, and have to share headsets that are not wiped down.
Frasers Group has responded to the accusations by saying that it takes “the health and safety of our workforce extremely seriously”.
Ashley had to apologise in recent months for keeping Sports Direct open after non-essential retailers were forced to close at the height of the pandemic.
The company said the Shirebrook site has been visited by the local authority and “the procedures we enacted verified as in line with government guidance”.
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