The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It has spread from China to almost all countries around the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared this to be a world-wide Pandemic. Depending on the severity and spread of COVID-19’s international impacts and the speed of outbreak infections this virus can affect all aspects of daily life, including travel, trade and supply chains, tourism, food supplies, and global financial markets to name a few.

While we are faced at present with COVID–19 we must remember that over the past years the world has been exposed to a variety of infectious disease outbreaks. As time moves on this outbreak will eventually pass but we need to understand that the possibility of another more deadly and infectious exposure has the potential to impact the world again. This may happen sooner than we think.

To reduce the impact of COVID-19 or any other infectious disease outbreak conditions on businesses, workers, customers, and the public, all employers need to plan now for the future. For employers who have already planned for influenza pandemics, planning for the new COVID-19 Pandemic may involve updating plans to address the specific exposure risks, sources of exposure, routes of transmission, and other unique characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 (i.e., compared to pandemic influenza viruses). Employers who have not prepared their business or employees for a pandemic or crisis events should prepare themselves as far in advance as possible of potentially catastrophic conditions.

Lack of business continuity and crisis planning can result in a cascade of failures as employers attempt to address challenges of infectious diseases with insufficient resources and workers who might not be adequately trained for jobs they may have to perform under pandemic conditions.

Occupational Safety, Health and Environment protocols focus on the need for employers to implement engineering, administrative, and work practice controls and personal protective equipment (PPE), as well as other human factor considerations. However, if there is a serious infectious disease outbreak, such as a pan­demic flu or any other infectious disease, you must plan for the employees being unable to report to work (not physical damage to infrastructure). Also, during a pandemic, businesses, social organizations or schools may be required to take unique measures (complete or partial business shutdowns, limited human movement and contact etc.) to help slow the spread of the illness.

Employers and workers should take this time to help identify risk levels in workplace settings and to determine any appropriate control measures to implement. Additional guidance and training may be needed as Pandemic outbreak conditions change, including as new information about the virus, its transmission, and impacts become available.

For preventive measures that may aid in curbing a widespread, take a look at a comprehensive listing of our Health, Safety & Security programmes by clicking on to the following link:

https://aztechtraining.com/training-courses/health-safety-security

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