The COVID-19 Safe System of Work

This is something that most businesses need urgently. This article is intended to help initiate discussions and actions to ensure that there is a responsible and concerted effort to return to work during the very slow recovery and the extended period of predicted fluctuations of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is a call to responsible business leaders and managers, safety experts, the HSE and the government to focus on creating unified safe systems of work and identify the specific PPE required for all working environments.

My business is currently stood down from 'site work', for now, except for ‘Key Worker’ roles, but I have no criticism for responsible and safe continued working in any sector.

The Near Future of the COVID-19 Pandemic?

There will be a slow pace to the recovery that leads to a time when there will be no COVID-19 considerations and concerns. Public health experts are certain that there will be fluctuations during the slow recovery period ahead. Infection rates and infection possibilities will probably reduce toward the end of the UK summer, and will more than likely rise again during winter 2020-2021.

Epidemiologists are using complex models to help policymakers plan ahead for the COVID-19 pandemic. Social distancing and movement restrictions are all part of that planning.

The scientific rationale behind social distancing and restriction of movement interventions is to slow the exponential growth of the pandemic and to keep the numbers of sick people at any one time below the maximum that the health care systems and NHS can handle. It also creates time for scientists to work on treatments and manufacturers to produce more medical equipment. Harvard infectious disease epidemiologist, Marc Lipsitch, predicts that the characteristics of COVID-19 might require a continued cyclical flux between strict social distancing and viral resurgence, perhaps until 2022 (link).

Also consider the short term economic concerns, general public concerns and paranoia factors:

• If/when will national and international travel resume? When will we feel safe on transport and in transport hubs?
• When will hotels and restaurants be able to open with full safety and responsibility. When will we feel safe in a hotel, bar or restaurant?
• When will corporate and public event mass gatherings be allowed? When will we feel or be safe within a large gathering of people?
• When will congested metropolis urban environments become busy again? When will we be roaming and working in these spaces freely and safely?
• When will hospitals and other busy public service spaces be back under ‘normal service’? When would you feel safe to send your contractors into these places with no protection?
• When will you want to sit in a busy cinema again? When will you want to take your kids to softplay?

The list could go on, but the pandemic and health concerns will eventually pass. But one thing is certain: We need to act now to create a safe and responsible pathway to start working in all environments as soon as possible. 

The Responsibility of Business Leaders

The first consideration for all responsible business leaders should be the safety and well being of their staff and families. After that first consideration, it is a major consideration to continue working as soon as possible and as safely as possible. This is for several reasons:

• To minimise the impact on an already devastated economy
• To minimise the draw on government funding that is currently creating a much bigger UK national debt than before (The pandemic response will increase government borrowing from a predicted ￡55 billion, or 2.4 per cent of national income to ￡177 billion or 8% of national income. Isabel Stockton, a research economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (link)).
• To rebuild and reboot supply chains
• To protect jobs, not only for your business but for the wider supply chain and marketplace
• To lead responsibly, and in doing so initiate a wider moral responsibility so that other businesses pay attention and more people can return to work in a safe manner

This list is brief and not extensive. I encourage a counter list of why not to work to make sure all scenarios are explored.

I have experienced first hand and observed the confusion and stress created for businesses by both the evolving pandemic and understandably reactive and unclear government advice and statements, particularly from Boris Johnson at 8.30pm on Monday 23rd March 2020. 

Last week I observed some businesses criticise others for continuing to work by virtue signalling and citing the ‘Stay at Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives' public health message, intended for the general public audience, as justification.

Those businesses chose to stand down their travel and operations despite the clarity of government advice that emerged from the health secretary during the government statement at 4.30pm, Tuesday 24th March. I have also seen posts this week from businesses that are continuing to work in a seemingly safe and responsible manner criticised on LinkedIn in this way.

My business is currently stood down from 'site work' except for ‘Key Worker’ roles, but I have no criticism for responsible and safe continued working in any sector.

The Government Advice Pertaining to Working is as Follows (correct as of 10am, 3rd April 2020) (link):

5. I’m not a critical worker and I can’t work from home. What should I do?

If you cannot work from home then you can still travel to work.

This is consistent with the Chief Medical Officer’s advice.

Critical workers are those who can still take their children to school or childcare. This critical worker definition does not affect whether or not you can travel to work

– if you are not a critical worker, you may still travel to work provided you cannot work from home.

Anyone who has symptoms or is in a household where someone has symptoms should not go to work and should self-isolate.

6. How can I find out if my work is essential or not?

The government is not saying only people doing “essential” work can go to work. Anyone who cannot work from home can still go to work.

 Separately, there is a list of critical workers who can still take their children to school or childcare. Provision has been prioritised for these workers.

Every worker – whether critical or not – should work from home if they can but may otherwise travel to work.

We have also asked certain businesses where people gather, such as pubs and most shops, to close. Separate guidance has been published on this.

This advice is clear. This current government policy could possibly be in effect and applicable for the next 12 months at least. Over this possible and theoretical 12 months period, business leaders could either no longer have a business to lead, or they will be furloughing employees far longer than is necessary or responsible. There needs to be an intent to begin working as soon as is safe to do so. 

The pathway to this in my opinion is to create a new COVID-19 Safe System of Work. This will need cross industry discussion and inter business collaboration that needs to be galvanised by the government and the HSE. Only this way will there be the safest procedures, carefully assessed PPE stipulations and the production of adequate and effective PPE supplies as soon as possible.

At this moment in time there is no clear HSE advice and no clear implementation of a prepared safe system of works for different working environments. To be forgiving to the HSE and the government, who had actually effectively planned for an unprecedented pandemic in their business?

What are We Doing Right Now?

As managing director of Terra Measurement Limited, I have one priority: The safety, welfare and well being of my team and their families. Their job security and the continuity of the business must be commensurate with that priority, particularly during this unprecedented pandemic situation.

We are Measurement Survey and Spatial Data Consultants who have to work in almost every type of working space that exists. To illustrate the point, some of these spaces include; hotels, hospitals, restaurants, roads, railway, schools, urban areas, rural areas, factories, quarries, power stations, airports, shopping centres, shipyards, heritage sites, military bases, prisons, etc.

I simply cannot justify making ‘sole decisions’ about the safety procedures that affect my team, especially during a situation like this. I instead prefer to join my team in discussions to explore everything in detail and then also seek expert opinions. The team as a whole will make the decision, and in this current situation, only when absolutely everyone is agreed.

 We have had to create our own ‘COVID-19 Safe System of Work’ already as we are currently fulfilling our role as ‘Key Workers’ on the rail network critical projects, completing measured surveys, movement monitoring and 3d laser scanning. We wanted to make sure we could fulfil that role as safely as possible. We are adding ideas and safety mitigations daily. One example of these includes a safe procedure for filling vehicles and purchasing fuel at petrol stations. Another safe procedure is for two surveyors to travel separately in a ‘two-up’ two car convoy - from the soonest opportunity after leaving each home and then to and from the site. There are many more details and steps in these procedures.

We have made further assessments of the types of sites we can start to visit as we phase in our site work again. We have many stipulations and criteria that work towards mitigation of safety to us and others. Ultimately when the time comes, we will make the final call if a site is safe and our surveyors will exercise their right to safety and leave if necessary.

We have taken the safety mitigations in our COVID-19 Safe System of Work well beyond the government guidelines, but we would like to ensure that we do not stop at what we have thought of internally alone. We want to make sure our system covers every relevant eventuality or any part of it is improved. For this we need help and an openly visible wider discussion and thought process.

We are assessing the situation week on week and will return to surveying on sites that are safe with a safe working method as soon as we can.

Conclusion: Please Get Together, Discuss, Implement and Act

This is going to be a slow recovery before we return to the new normality. The depth of the recession caused by the coronavirus in the UK will depend on business leaders and their determination to create a safe working strategy to reopen the work pipelines and feed the supply chain. If we take responsibility now, we will be better prepared to help everyone feel safe to return to work and happier that recovery has begun.

We also need the contribution of the government, the HSE and safety experts.

I wholeheartedly encourage the initiation of cross industry and wider discussions and we are happy to play our small part in that. We are a growing small business, but we would like to contribute if we reasonably can and definitely want to learn from a wider ‘think tank’ during such an unusual situation.

Good luck to everyone and I hope you find this article helpful in these difficult times. Do not hesitate to comment or get in contact.

Stay safe and healthy.

(This article contains my observations and opinions supported by the cited articles - links indicated by '(link)'. It is intended as a spark to create a positive and helpful conversational response - please do respond).

Update Received after Writing this Article

The Construction Enquirer published this yesterday afternoon:

Updated Site Operating Procedures

The Government has confirmed that construction sites should continue to operate during the current Coronavirus pandemic. Alok Sharma, the Secretary of State for Business Energy & Industrial Strategy, confirmed that the Site Operating Procedures published by the Construction Leadership Council are aligned with Public Health England (PHE) guidance that must be implemented in the workplace. In response to feedback, the Site Operating Procedures Version 2 has now been published to include:

• Clarification that where it is not possible or safe for workers to distance themselves from each other by 2 metres then work should not be carried out
• The request from Transport for London to avoid using the tube network during peak times
• Updates from Public Health England to reference:

1. those living with someone who has shown signs of Covid-19 infection
2. those living with someone who is shielding
3. 60%+ alcohol-based hand sanitiser
4. keeping groups of workers together to minimise transfer of infection across the workforce

• The need to monitor implementation of the procedures

A copy of the updated Site Operating Procedures can be found here