Employee health is an essential concern for employers in all industries after everyone's battle against COVID-19 throughout most of 2020. Employers faced challenging decisions to put employee safety first and comply with the OSHA workplace safety regulations and will need to continue that course into 2021.
OSHA keeps up with all the latest updates on the novel coronavirus, then updates its standards and directives accordingly, making all relative safe work practices readily available. Since employers everywhere have found themselves operating in uncharted waters, the organization's monitoring of the pandemic and its effects on the public has proven invaluable.
While the coronavirus vaccine is becoming increasingly available, it requires a second dose to ensure efficacy, so it will take time to see how much it helps everyone stay safe. In the meantime, new cases develop daily worldwide, so everyone needs to maintain COVID-related workplace safety culture for employee wellbeing until there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Let's take a look at workplace safety tips to prepare for 2021.
Some people were naturally able to stay home during lockdowns, such as retirees, freelancers, and students, but work is another matter. Businesses have core functions to perform, and employees need to earn a living. While many employers were encouraged to send much of their workforce home to work remotely, that was not always possible. Some types of businesses require employees to arrive at the workplace daily, or at least intermittently, including:
Regardless of the business, employers have the ability to prevent and slow the spread of the coronavirus. By understanding COVID at every phase, employers can help keep employees and customers safe.
COVID-19 has served up plenty of twists and turns over the past year, so it is crucial for employers to keep up with all the latest news and updates on the coronavirus. There are several trusted sources available on the subject that keep everyone posted on the medical, national, and local levels:
By keeping up with the latest information from these resources, employers can confidently maintain workplace safety for employees for the duration of the pandemic.
Make sure that employees know that their safety is vital and that they should feel the same way for themselves, co-workers, and management. Monitor updates regarding COVID-19 from trusted resources and make them readily available and highly visible to employees with:
Encourage employees to identify hazards, such as the lack of hand sanitizer at appointed stations, to ensure the right person restocks. Despite the risks of the coronavirus, it is the ideal time to foster a healthier corporate culture through concern for one another. One way to help build this special camaraderie is by providing employee recognition for above-and-beyond efforts to keep employees safe during this difficult time.
COVID-19 makes it imperative to prepare the workplace for peak safety. Assign a coronavirus safety management leader and form a larger team to assist that person in keeping up with all safety protocols and putting them in place, then following through regularly. The team should work together to develop a list of safety procedures, including:
In addition to the preparations, it is important to carry out ongoing measures to ensure employee safety since people are the primary source of the spread of infection. There are several ways employers can help identify possible infection as early as possible:
In addition to person-to-person transmission, people can contract COVID-19 through surface contact. If someone touches their face multiple times a day and has the coronavirus, then they touch a countertop, it puts everyone else at risk. Fortunately, there is plenty of information on creating a sanitization strategy, such as using a disinfectant with at least 60% alcohol, regularly cleaning high-traffic points like doorknobs and elevator buttons, and handrails, and removing shared kitchen items like mugs.
Your employees might already feel coronavirus fatigue after a year of combating it, but everyone needs to soldier on in the fight for employee wellbeing. We can help you encourage your employees to stay positive and healthy in 2021. Give us a call at 800-535-5690, request a complimentary consultation, or launch a chat session, so we can talk about ways to keep your employees encouraged and motivated.