Covid-19: Returning to work in the context of coronavirus

As businesses are restarted, workers and employees must confront a range of occupational safety and health hazards not limited to the risk of Covid-19 transmission, including psychosocial risks related to fear, stigma and job insecurity.

The World Health Organsiation (WHO) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) hosted a webinar on returning to work in the context of Covid-19 on May 29.

The webinar focused on how businesses and societies can adapt to ensure the safety of workers, their families and communities, and the sustainability of business operations as national restrictions are eased.

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It was attended remotely by over 1 000 participants from across all six WHO regions.

As businesses are restarted, workers and employees must confront a range of occupational safety and health hazards not limited to the risk of Covid-19 transmission, including psychosocial risks related to fear, stigma and job insecurity.

Safety measures to reduce transmission of Covid-19 will be necessary, ranging from enhanced hygiene and physical distancing, to mandatory use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in higher-risk settings where measures based on prevention of exposure cannot sufficiently reduce risk.

Risk mitigation measures must reflect the features of, and risks related to, each specific job.

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To ensure they can be properly implemented and are working as intended, individual businesses must develop prevention and mitigation action plans, in consultation with workers and their representatives, based on an assessment of occupational health risks and the epidemiological situation.

Existing labour standards provide a normative framework for countries and employers to develop policies and guidance.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the WHO and the ILO have been working to meet the demand from stakeholders for reliable information to inform safe back-to-work strategies.

The ILO has also launched a portal which brings together the latest news and recommendations related to Covid-19, including specific guidance for different sectors.

The ILO’s recently released guidance note on a safe and healthy return to work aims to assist governments, as well as employers’ and workers’ organisations, in developing national policy guidance for a phased and safe return to work.

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In addition, the guidelines also provide for workplace level risk assessments and the implementation of preventive and protective measures, which are summarised in the ILO’s ten action points tool.

The WHO has produced a scientific brief on modes of transmission of Covid-19.

The Department of Health from South Africa shared current policy perspectives on easing restrictions and restarting the economy, touching upon many of the issues raised by the other speakers.

Despite the continuing risk of Covid-19 transmission, the South African government recognised that the current policy of lockdowns and closure of businesses is not viable in the long term.

To balance the two priorities of preventing a new wave of Covid-19 cases that could overwhelm the health system and safeguarding livelihoods, the government has adopted a phased approach to reopening with five alert levels, tailored to different provinces of the country, with different public health measures and restrictions on activities based on the current risk of Covid-19 transmission.

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Different sectors, including mining and the public sector, have been given guidelines for the return to work at each alert level, along with restrictions that should remain after the lockdown, regardless of the alert level.

Activity will be resumed in each sector using a phased approach, with no more than one third of workers returning to work at once.

At the same time, safety measures will account for risks to workers as they commute, work, and interact with clients, consumers and the wider community.

These efforts must be supported by the timely availability of high-quality data to identify potential cases, and inspections of workplaces to ensure measures are being implemented.

Social partners on the webinar emphasised that every worker is essential and must be protected from Covid-19, and that safe and healthy work conditions are a fundamental right.

In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, enhancing workplace safety is not just a concern for individual workers, but is vital to overall public health.

The risks faced by workers do not just depend on their job role, but also on the type of relationship between workers and their employers.

Policymakers and businesses are called on to pay particular attention to protecting contract workers, migrant workers, and those in the informal economy.

The return to work must also be accompanied by ‘social protection’ measures, particularly paid sick leave and protection against discrimination and harassment, to ensure no group of workers is unfairly disadvantaged.

As the world economy restarts and begins its recovery, the opportunity to take stock of lessons presented by the pandemic on the relationship between work, human health and environmental sustainability should not be lost.

For its part, the WHO has developed a manifesto for a healthy and green recovery from Covid-19, with six prescriptions, including protecting nature, investing in essential services, ensuring a quick healthy energy transition, promoting healthy and sustainable food systems, building healthy, liveable cities, and ending taxpayer subsidies for polluting activities.

Dear reader,

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