What we’ve learned from the pandemic
James Macdonald CMIOSH, Health and Safety Team Leader at Citation, discusses infection control in a post-COVID world.
While this is by no means of any lesser importance, the modern workplace is now shifting towards wellness. If we think of this as ‘health and safety’, we’re thinking far more about health. This could be something as simple as an ergonomic desk chair, or more specific – such as monitoring dust fibres and fumes in the air.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this need for ‘health’, in particular, by looking at air quality and how this influences infection control.
How this has impacted the sector?
With more of a focus on health and wellness – for example, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is looking at dust and asbestos fibres – comes more knowledge. This promulgates throughout the entire organisation. Consider the HR departments, who have to advise and write up COVID-19 policies.
In turn, this affects procurement. Cleaning staff are now being trained in new routines and chemicals, thereby impacting finance and personnel. We now have much clearer guidance on high standards of hygiene.
It would be an impossible task to quantify the lessons learned throughout the pandemic. We’ve discovered more about ourselves and our lifestyles, tried new technology, adapted working practices and seen leaders fail. We’ve also seen some incredible successes – namely in the NHS, if not the triumph of the human spirit itself.
As the world begins to ‘open its doors’ again, we must confront very real risks, such as returning to the workplace. This has given rise to a change in modern professional culture.
From safety to wellness
Years ago, before corporate wellness was even a recognised notion, UK workplaces would focus heavily on safety. Of course, this would include risk assessments, highlighting dramatic scenarios such as burns and falls.
34 | COVID-19 AND INFECTION CONTROL
This has led to the introduction of new technologies, from simple hand sanitiser dispensers to fogging and misting technology. It goes beyond cleaning, too – stakeholders can assure one another with temperature checks and contactless payments, for example.
Imparting this knowledge
Of course, we cannot exercise any of these new developments without people power. In the case of the pandemic, this starts from the top: the government.
New measures and legislation are being introduced all the time to counter the spread of the virus. In particular, the introduction of legislation such as the Coronavirus Act 2020 has helped to protect workers’ freedoms, transcending the stipulations of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
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