COVID-19 Risk Management Plan: An Overview
This article was originally posted on July 6, 2020.
The coronavirus (COVID-19) has affected 213 countries and territories around the world. The outbreak has brought not only mild to severe symptoms that could be fatal especially to immunocompromised people but also a growing impact on the global economy. Several months within the pandemic, there have been more than 3 million cases worldwide but there is still no specific treatment for or vaccine against it.n
Due to this, the risk of COVID-19 transmission and infection is expected to linger for years to come so precautionary measures are necessary to prevent it from spreading – the only best thing we can do as of this time. As more and more employees adjust to the new normal, most opting to work from home, some businesses still require a physical office to continue their operations. Evidently, a high risk of potential transmission will be present as employees come back and start workplace activities again. Therefore, return-to-work protocols and guidelines were developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA), and Centers for Disease & Control Prevention (CDC) to protect the employees, contractors, visitors, and the general public from acquiring the coronavirus.
The return-to-work protocols and guidelines will help the businesses reduce the risk of infection on their workplace to as low as reasonably practicable by implementing administrative and engineering controls based on regulations. The key area as to which this guideline pertains to is the hazard assessment of the workplace where it can help identify the possible ways of transmission and find ways to eliminate or reduce it while still maintaining business operations.
These return-to-work protocols and guidelines will cover specific businesses such as:
- Border protection and transportation security
- Construction
- Correctional facility operations
- Dentistry
- Emergency response and public safety
- Environmental services
- Farmworkers
- Healthcare
- In-home repair services
- Laboratories
- Manufacturing
- Meat and poultry processing
- Postmortem care
- Retail operations
- Solid waste and wastewater management
Want an effective implementation of the return-to-work protocols and guidelines for your business operations? We’d like to help you with your needs and get you there safely.
Note: Hazard assessment tools for specific businesses will be made available upon request.
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