Are you fit-to-visit?

Soon there will be a moment that the corona measurements will slowly be phased out. Airports and Airlines are working to see what needs to be done to be able to perform flights. Will it be half full airplanes with 1,5 meter between passengers? Or a fit-to-fly questionnaire? This is a questionnaire in which you declare to be healthy. There is also a chance that it will be combined with temperature measurements before you can enter the plane. Whether or not this is all approved within privacy laws will need to be discussed. In fact your body temperature is a medical measurement that falls in the heaviest category. Of course it is not only your health and safety but also for employees. Outweighs public interest personal privacy?

Laws regarding working conditions demand a safe and healthy workspace

According to working conditions laws (Arbo-wet in the Netherlands) it is already expected that companies arrange a safe and healthy working environment for their employees and contractors. Employers and employees are together responsible to make sure that work can be done safely and healthy. Current Corona situation does make things a lot more complex and requires the necessary creativity. How are you dealing with this subject as a company? And from the other side, how are you dealing with this as a service organization that sends employees on the road to visit other companies? How do you get your company and your employees ‘fit-to-visit’?

A safe and healthy work environment, how do you organize this?

So it is important to make sure that everyone in your building and on your terrain, your own employees ánd contractors and drivers, can do their job safely and healthy to decrease the chance of contamination. The 1,5 meter distance that we need to keep from each other (counts for The Netherlands) will be the norm for the coming period, but how will you organize this at your facilities? Now people risking significant fines for not following Corona rules. Companies are still mostly left alone, but this will change. Companies have to make sure Corona measurements will be taken and followed when opening up. 

So also: 

  • At the security lodge
  • In the office at the coffee corner 
  • In meeting rooms
  • In the warehouse and the production
  • At logistics and in technical spaces
  • In the workplace
  • In the cafeteria, kitchen and locker rooms
  • In the workfield at installations
  • In freight ships
  • At a client at home
  • In the elevator
  • Etc. 

 

“There are, except for 1,5 meter regulations, no futher guidelines of what you must do or should want to do.”  


Risk assessment and evaluation

To map which safety risks your employees are facing while doing their job, it is mandatory to set up a risk assessment and evaluation. (In The Netherlands it is a law and called RI&E). This is one of the most important documents for your occupational health policy. In the matching plan of action you describe how your company deals with these safety risks. This can be subject of health inspection. In these Corona times it is even more important to make sure you comply to these regulations.

When it becomes more complex

Sales representatives or job applicants can be kept away from your facilities of course. It is quit easy to schedule meetings via teams or zoom etc. That works fine most companies have experienced in the meantime. But while the office visitors are kept to a minimum, there will be visitors for more actionable, technical and complex jobs. 

Think about:

  • Service mechanics and maintenance workers
  • Delivery services and truck drivers
  • Facility services and cleaners
  • Contractors and painters
  • Engineers
  • Etc. 

You are as a company, by law, responsible that these people can do their job safe and healthy. How do you manage and safeguard this? What requirements do you place on people who want to visit your company? Just a few questions to help you prepare to be able to open up your business when the corona measurements are slowly phased out. 

Do you have employees on the road?

There is also a another side of the above. If you have employees on the road to do jobs on location, under which circumstances are your employees allowed to do their job? Are you demanding a safe environment from your clients? What are you demanding then? And how do you check on this? There are, except for the 1.5 meter distance rules, no clear guidelines about what you need to do or what you should want to do. Al together there is enough to think about. 

In the blog “How will you restart your business when corona measurements are phased out?” you can read how you can manage your visitor flows in EVA and set the first steps to a safe and healthy working environment.