Work at Home or In the Office?
Not all employers have the ability to let their employees work from home. A Zoom call won’t help you manufacture a part or construct a building. If you have a robust safety management system in place, addressing the challenges of having employees on-site during a pandemic gives you a big head start to keeping your employees safe.
In April 2020, Vic Toy gave a presentation to the American Society of Safety Professionals that reinforced the prerequisite of a sound health and safety management program to managing COVID-19 in the workplace. As the Chair of the U.S. Technical Advisory Group to ISO committee that published the international standards for health and occupational safety systems (ISO 45001), Toy also has experience in pandemic planning.
Toy observed that you need to use the basics of your safety management system to determine:
- How you PLAN for managing risks (i.e. infections).
- What you need to DO to control exposure.
- How to CHECK for developments and emerging cases of COVID-19.
- When/how to ACT to address exposures to COVID-19 and other workplace hazards.
These are familiar questions for any leader who manages a health and safety program for their company, because they use these same questions for any work-related risk. With a well-developed risk assessment process, both the functions and activities of the organization are aligned to help manage the risk. But COVID-19 brings a unique set of concerns, so employers may want to access the wealth of resources made available by the National Safety Council (NSC), which can be found .
Leverage SAFER to jumpstart a Safe Return-to-Work On-Site
Among the NSC resources is a particularly useful one called the SAFER (Safe Actions for Employee Returns) Program, which covers all major considerations about how best to handle the pandemic with employees on-site. The program includes recommendations from a task force comprised of large and small Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, legal experts, public health professionals, medical professionals and government agency representatives, based on best practices and proven workplace safety strategies. The initial program was published on June 8, 2020.
Consider Every Aspect of the Company and How it Interfaces with Employees
SAFER uses a framework that looks at a range of business types across multiple functions, and recognizes there is no one-size-fits-all solution for a safe return to work. Here are some considerations:
- Assess the physical environment — from the sanitation needs of the facility to whether it can accommodate appropriate social distancing.
- Assess the public physical environment where employees may work — from establishing procedures for disinfecting fleet vehicles to creating a communication channel to keep employees updated on public infection rates.
- Policies are needed for employees who may be more at risk,and determinations should be made about the need for personal protective equipment.
- Provide hygiene and infection-control processes as well as the appropriate cleaning, disinfecting and sanitizing materials.
- Train leaders on how to effectively communicate with employees throughout the pandemic.
- Determine the type of testing and tracing protocols they will use to identify any outbreaks as they occur:
- How will the company handle an infected employee?
- What communication can/should be shared?
- Will employees be encouraged or discouraged from telling others about what is happening?
Employees are likely to feel stress, both about working remotely and returning to a work location. They may be concerned about childcare or eldercare, and may also be experiencing financial stress. Having a plan to address a multifaceted list of employee and employer concerns is crucial for an effective return to the workplace.
You can access the detailed SAFER program .
Management’s Commitment to Safety — the Lynchpin for Success
Health and safety professionals, working directly with committed leadership, can navigate the complex issues surrounding the pandemic. Employees can be brought back to their worksites safely by using the health and safety program foundation already in place, augmented by advice from experts.
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