FM CAREERS - TRAINING
SAFETY IN THE POST-COVID WORLD
Kate Gardner, Tutor & H&S Consultant for International Workplace describes how health and safety
training for managers has evolved to meet post pandemic challenges
DECEMBER/JANUARY 2022 57
Having lived and worked
through a challenging 18
months, managers could
be forgiven for thinking that their
responsibilities might be starting to
ease. However, the new norm has
brought with it a range of health and
wellbeing challenges, including:
Reassessing risks for a workforce
with a blend of home-working, oŽ ice
working and somewhere in between.
Understanding that mental health
issues in this phase of the pandemic
include anxieties about the return to
the physical workplace.
Enabling more fluid work
arrangements in the oŽ ice, including
hot-desking (recognising that this
raises ergonomic and hygiene
issues).
Understanding that Boards need
strategies for resilience and business
continuity. The 'healthy hybrid' will
become the norm.
International Workplace’s IOSH
Managing Safely course helps managers
understand their key role in keeping
their organisation’s workers safe and
healthy, even when those people are not
all necessarily in one place. This means
establishing clear rules and procedures
for those working in company buildings
and ensuring that those working from
home or elsewhere are set up with the
appropriate equipment and are using it
in the right way.
HOUSEKEEPING AND HYGIENE
Upon their return to the o ice, sta need
to be aware of their responsibilities to
keep everyone, including themselves,
safe. Handwashing facilities are the
start; encouraging good housekeeping,
sensible hygiene practices when
hot desking and clearing up aŽ er
themselves should become the norm.
Your organisation needs to have a clear
policy on what is expected as regards
face coverings in public areas, the
use of hand sanitiser, and when it is
appropriate and/or necessary to take a
lateral flow COVID-19 test prior to coming
into a workplace, attending a meeting,
or joining an event. Managers need to
be sensitive to the di erent demands
of their employees, understanding that
some people will be more comfortable
attending the o ice and public areas
than others.
MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING
Clearly the COVID-19 pandemic has
accelerated awareness of mental ill
health in the workplace. However, the
law has been clear for some time now
that employers have a legal obligation
under health and safety legislation
to care for the mental, as well as the
physical, safety of sta at work.
Under health and safety legislation,
employers are required to carry out risk
assessments and provide employees
with relevant training and information
on the risks they face, and the measures
put in place to control these risks. This
is where there is a potential problem
with mental health as opposed to
physical health. While many managers
are aware of their obligations to look
aŽ er the physical safety of their teams,
many are unaware of their and their
teams’ obligations to look aŽ er the
mental health of their colleagues. This is
partly due to the lack of awareness and
training provided by employers to their
managers. Many managers therefore
may also genuinely believe it is not
their responsibility. While it has been
a positive move by employers to train
mental health first aiders, doing so may
have reinforced managers’ views that it’s
not their problem. This is why employers
need to revisit their obligations and
update their approach to health and
safety, providing training for all sta
(but especially for managers), so they
recognise it is their responsibility to look
aŽ er mental health, as well as physical
health and safety.
ERGONOMICS
One of the most important things
that employers can do is help sta
understand what a suitable home
working environment looks like. Not
everyone has the ability to have a
dedicated home o ice but it is possible
to make adjustments or adaptations to
enable people to work in a supported
and ergonomic way, whatever
the workplace looks like. Having
conversations with workers about the
simple ways they can protect themselves
from pain and discomfort means that
wherever they work from, be it their
home, a co ee shop or an agile work
space, they will have the knowledge
to work comfortably. The law doesn’t
require employers to conduct home
workstation assessments for employees
working remotely temporarily. However,
they should still o er advice. Employers
should regularly contact workers to
address whether improvements need
making and deliver equipment if
necessary.
To aid permanent homeworkers,
employers must provide information
on how to operate comfortably to
avoid developing musculoskeletal
conditions. Regularly communicating
with sta members will help to prevent
any long-term issues developing too.
On top of this, employers must instruct
sta to complete a homeworking
risk assessment and a display screen
equipment assessment. The company’s
health and safety policy may also need
adjusting to cover homeworking.
Training should never stand still –
managers need to adapt to new ways of
working and controlling the workplace
environment.
Whilst COVID-19 can be considered
to be a biological hazard, it a ects
the entire working environment, from
ergonomics to organisational policy to
physical working conditions. The IOSH
Managing Safely course covers a broad
range of health and safety subjects and
ensures every manager and supervisor is
aware of their responsibilities.
For more information visit
www.internationalworkplace.com/
iosh-training/managing-safely
/managing-safely
