The current pandemic has shaken the world to the core. The employers all the world have now even bigger responsibility to keep their employees and workplace safe.

There are many companies which have purposefully established ISO 45001 to keep their working staff and workplace absolutely safe and free of hazards. After all, workers around the world have the full right to decline working under unsafe working conditions.

This bounds employers to take relevant measures to fully bolster their inspectorate during the Covid-19 outbreak. With that, the workers are also instructed to follow the SOPs and take all the disinfecting and cleaning measures. In other words, the failure of any company to fully comply with the standards defined in the ISO 45001 and its regulations may even result in a complete shutdown of the business operations under the stop – work order.

How to Handle Covid-19 Exposure at Workplace

Well, if any staff member shows symptoms of Covid-19 or respiratory illness, the employer is responsible to ensure that they remain at home and avoid contact with other workers. The employer must take all the reasonable precautions in order to protect the workers’ health and safety.

The employer is also required to do a thorough risk assessment and determine the parts and areas of the jobsite and the number of other workers, the infected worker had been in contact with.

On the basis of the results of the risk assessment, it is the duty of the employer to:

• Send all the co-workers who have been in contact with the affected worker, home for at least two weeks. The employer must ask them to self-monitor and self-isolate themselves and report any illness similar to Covid-19 to their reporting authority.
• Fully shut down the relevant job site and disinfect the affected workplace as well as equipment.
In addition to that, the employer should also advise the:

• Representative of health and safety
• Joint committee of workplace health and safety
• Trade union, if any

Some of the instant measures to avoid further exposure include, asking workers to work from home, disinfecting the workplace regularly, implementing the SOP of maintaining at least 3 meters distance from others, reducing the passengers on elevators and providing workers with hand sanitizers, masks and other personal protective equipment.

Several companies have now fully established ISO 45001 Certification online in Lihyan and monitoring closely if the workers are following the SOPs. After all, the loss is not just limited to losing workers, but is also significantly threatening to the business operations and the company’s future and sustainability. Keep safe!