Employees at the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Bermuda were forced to work remotely this month after mould was found in their Church Street building.

The office announced today its staff were looking for temporary locations after the Government’s Occupational Health and Safety Office confirmed mould on the Maxwell Roberts Building’s fourth floor.

The group added that emergency arrangements had resulted in “substantive disruption” to the authority’s work.

The office said: “The capacity of senior management has been focused on the prioritisation of the health and safety of all public officers and the adoption of immediate remediation steps and procedures to ensure staff welfare.

“Changes to security and cleaning protocols have also occurred to facilitate remediation and assessment activities.”

It added: “System issues arising in the remote work environment are currently causing delays affecting finance, operations and matters pertaining to regulatory affairs.

“Members of the public and organisations engaging with PrivCom may experience delays while these interim working arrangements are in place.”

The office has been closed to the public since August 6 and will remain closed until further notice.

The Privacy Commission will announce when its staff have found a temporary workspace.