Skip to main content
Leadership: Opening the Company Doors after Lock Down

 Many companies are, under the current Level 4 lock down, still closed, while other are already open or in the process of opening. But it is not just a matter of opening the gates and the doors, and welcoming all our employees back, because, thank goodness, we can start doing some business again! The threat of infection is still there, and with the current number of new positive cases on a daily basis, bigger than ever. We need to prepare ourselves, our employees and our companies so that we will all be protected as much as possible, including the protection of our communities. As leaders in our organizations, we need to take this seriously and do what we can to protect workers and the community alike. So, what do we do?

 Fortunately, one of my longstanding clients, Peninsula Drums (Pty) Ltd, who provides an essential service to the food industry, remained open. They had to put all the necessary precautions in place, and among others a COVID-19 Safety Plan. They have been kind enough to let me share it with you so that we can all do what is necessary to curb the spread of the virus. Our employees are our most valuable asset, and they need to be protected at all costs. I really like their approach, both for its practicality and simplicity.

 The COVID-19 Safety Plan of Peninsula Drums (Pty) Ltd is based on 7 questions. I will expand on each one with their responses so that we can use it as an example for our own plans.

 How will we ensure that all or workers know how to keep themselves safe from exposure to COVID-19?

 The plan came up with included things like nor forcing anybody to work who did not feel comfortable doing so. They then went on to explain the symptoms to all employees, followed by displaying information regarding the symptoms throughout the factory. Mandatory precautions, such as wearing face masks, social distancing, and sanitation of personnel and equipment were put into place.

 How will we gather information on the wellness of our staff to ensure that they are safe at work?

 All employees are subject to daily temperature scans. Nobody with a temperature higher than normal are allowed on the premises. These employees have to go home and return only if they have official proof that they are not COVID-19 positive.

 Employees are encouraged to report any symptoms to their supervisors. Employees are also encourage to stay home if they are sick or do not feel well.

 How will we operate our business in a way that keeps workers and other people safe from exposure to COVID-19?

 Here the company refers to equipment sanitation, the compulsory wearing of face masks, temperature scanning for all individuals, keeping a register of all people, including visitors on site, provision of hand sanitizers, social distancing, limiting the number of people on site (including visitors and delivery personnel), the installation and compulsory use of a sanitizing tunnel for all personnel, etc.

 How will we manage an exposure to COVID-19?

 This is a very relevant question. Employees are required to report to their supervisors if they have been in contact with a person who has tested positive for the virus. Such employees must go into self-isolation for 2 weeks, after which they must be tested.

 Any employee showing symptoms of the virus while at work will immediately be given a clean mask and will be isolated in the sick bay. They are then sent home so that they can get tested. The sick bay and the work area in which the employee was working must immediately be sanitized.

 For any employee to be able to return to work in these cases, they have to provide Peninsula Drums (Pty) with official test results stating that are not positive.

 How will we evaluate whether the work processes and risk controls are effective?

 Peninsula Drums (Pty) Ltd based the safety plan on local and international plans in this regard. The plan is based on scientifically proven information only.

 Records are kept of incidents, as well as sanitation. 

 I like this plan because it is practical and simple to implement. But the plan is, of course, only as good as the preceding risk assessment, and I will discuss this in a later article.

 It has also become necessary to include COVID-19 (and any other infectious diseases) in the company induction programs and awareness training. I will discuss this as well, and also the need for emergency planning for future outbreaks of infectious diseases.

 Feel free to contact me at koosgouws10@gmail.com for more information.

 Koos Gouws
SHEQ Management Systems

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

  The Role of the Health and Safety (and sometimes Environmental as well!) Officer  I have recently come across a post by a friend of mine, Edwin Lewis, who is a health and safety officer in a large construction company. I think his thoughts on how health and safety officer are often perceived by management is true in many cases. They appoint health and safety officers not knowing what their actual roles in the organization should be. They are looking for "policeman" who will make sure that employees use their PPE and that they follow procedures. I am posting the following with Edwin's permission: "The following post is after having another discussion with a director from a well known firm, and had a heated debate on the role of a Safety Officer, and of course which i won. What does "Health And Safety Officers" do ? The answers have always been the "Hardhat mentality ".   We only exist and are perceived as, "to make sure employees wear a hard...
2 comments
Read more

Sustainability in Business

Sustainability (in terms of business sustainability) The importance of sustainability has been enhanced in the King IV report on corporate governance. Although application of King IV is voluntary for most organizations, it is a requirement for companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The King IV report addresses sustainability as follows: “Sustainable development, understood as ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs’, is a primary ethical and economic imperative. It is a fitting response to the organization being an integral part of society, its status as a corporate citizen and its stakeholders’ need, interests and expectations. The survival and success of organizations are intertwined with, and related to, three interdependent sub-systems: the triple context of economy, society and the natural environment. In the South African setting, addressing inequality in society ...
1 comment
Read more

European Legislation on Product Liability

In South Africa we have many organizations who manufacture and export products to countries who are members of the European Union. We know that many of these products must have the CE marking applied to them as proof that the product complies with all the essential health and safety requirements for that product. (In later blogs I will give more information on exactly how this works.) The essential health and safety requirements are contained in directives and regulations that have been issued by the European Parliament. In the case of the directives they are national requirements in the legal systems of each member state, while regulations apply in each member state without having to be published as national legislation. In this blog I would like to provide information on the European legislation on product liability. To ensure that the information comes across as intended, I have taken the liberty to copy the appropriate section form the Blue Guide on the Implementation of EU Pro...
Post a Comment
Read more