More are more companies and employees are going back to work, which raises some new questions – how do workplaces get ready? How do we ensure the workplaces is safe and healthy? Should travel be approved or not? What if there is a business trip that cannot be avoided?
WHO has issued a checklist and guidelines with three major actions to specifically address these questions. We hope this can be helpful for corporations and also to get more businesses prepared for COVID-19.
Before we get into the checklist, it’s important to understand why these guidelines were developed.
We need to understand how the virus is transmitted so we can make better judgements on where to invest the biggest efforts for the most effective protection. Thereby cutting transmission completely.
Check it out on this video:
A few highlights here:
- When someone sneezes or coughs, small droplets carrying the virus are projected into the air, which can be transmitted to people nearby or fall onto surfaces nearby.
- COVID-19 transmission happens when the infected droplets land in the mouth or nose of the people nearby OR hands touch surfaces which can be contaminated with the virus, and then the hands touch the eyes, nose or mouths - transferring the virus into the body.
- This is why it is important to maintain 1 metre physical distance, practice good hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette, and ensure proper disinfection of surfaces in the workplace.
Now you know the transmission route, what should business owners do to protect their employees and customers?
Have you accomplished all the actions in the list? Check multiple times to make sure!
WHO DG Dr Tedros said, “how deadly this virus will be depends not only on the virus itself, but on how we respond to it.”
We are all responsible for reducing our own risk of infection, and if we’re infected, we’re responsible for reducing our risk of infecting others.
We’re all in this together, and we can only save lives together. Let’s beat COVID-19!