Protect personnel both now, after lockdowns ease: ILO

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has urged governments to do this to prevent and control COVID-19 in workplace, with active involvement and dialogue with employers’ and workers’ organisations as the pressure mounts on countries to help ease their lockdown restrictions

All employers need to perform risk assessments and ensure their workplaces meet strict occupational safety and health requirements beforehand to minimize the chance to workers of contact with COVID-19, says the ILO on Tuesday. 

 

Without such controls, it said, countries face the real threat of a resurgence of the virus. 

Putting in place the required measures will prevent another wave of contagion contracted at the workplace.  

 

“The safety and health of our entire workforce is paramount today. In the face of an infectious disease outbreak, how exactly we protect our staff now plainly dictates how safe our communities are, and how resilient our businesses will be, as this pandemic evolves,” said the Director-General of the ILO, Guy Ryder.  

 

“It’s only by implementing occupational safety and health measures that we can protect the lives of workers, their own families and the larger communities, ensure work continuity and monetary survival,” Ryder added.   

Specifically, risk control measures should be specifically adapted to the needs of personnel at the frontline of the pandemic, according to a statement received from Geneva. 

Included in these are health workers, nurses, doctors and emergency workers, in addition to those in food retail and cleaning services.  

 

The ILO also highlighted the needs of the very most vulnerable personnel and businesses, specifically those in the informal economy, migrant and domestic workers. 

Measures to protect these workers should include amongst others education and training on safe and healthy work practices, free provision of PPE as needed, usage of public health services and livelihood alternatives.   

 

“The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the urgent need for strong national programmes to protect medical and safety of health workers, doctors, emergency responders, and the countless other personnel risking their lives on our behalf,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “On World Day for Safety and Health at Work, I ask all countries to assure well-defined, decent and safe working conditions for all health workers." 

To ensure a safe go back to work and also to avoid further work disruptions, the ILO recommends mapping hazards and assessing risks of contagion with regards to all work operations, and continuing to examine them following a return to work, adopting risk control measures adapted to each sector and the specifics of every workplace and workforce.

These may include reducing physical interactions between workers, contractors, customers and visitors and respecting physical distancing when any interactions occur, bettering ventilation in the task place, regularly cleaning surfaces, ensuring workplaces are clean and hygienic, and providing satisfactory facilities for handwashing and sanitization, providing arrangements for isolating suspected cases and tracing every contact, providing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to workers where necessary and free, providing mental health support for staff and providing training, education and informational material about health insurance and safety at work, including proper hygiene practices and the utilization of any workplace controls, including PPE.