Safety Will Change

This is certainly a unique time as there has and will continue to be great change. The acceptance that the way we have lived will come back may be an illusion. This will apply to many businesses and industries. Some businesses may not survive, not because of the temporary downturn in the economy, rather based on changing customer requirements.

I come from a family committed to science; engineers, an infectious disease researcher, and even a math teacher. This new problem presented to us will be dealt with through science, not with ungrounded assertions.

We have never experienced a time with such a large population in additions to travel throughout the globe. You can easily see why any virus can spread quickly. However, this time we are dealing with something different. Rather than just catching a cold or having a flu, this virus, well, you know the story. Of course many die from the flu every year.

We will not be returning to the same no matter who says what. As safety professionals this presents issues and opportunities for us. There may, yes may, be a time when society develops a general immunity to Covid-19, but we are a long way from making that determination. We do not know yet if or when this virus will mutate. It may require annual vaccines similar to flu vaccines many of us get today. Even those vaccines are a best guess and in many times are not effective.

We are going to have to learn to protect our workers now in industries and in methods that we never considered.

I have taken the position going back to the time I taught Bloodborne Pathogens to use the concept of Universal Precautions - everyone is considered to be contagious. I also have to go back to my days working on both the nuclear and hazardous waste industries where we teach our people to protect themselves, not be just dressing out appropriately, but by knowing how to properly remove PPE. I can see this occurring in many work situations where we bring many people together for a project. Concepts of using step of pads for work clothing removal may become a necessity.

I recently checked on a project that I am not a part of but as I suspected this type of knowledge was not being passed on to the workers nor was the correct PPE being provided. There was no understanding of the simplest protections including washing hands before smoking a cigarette. I do believe if Covid-19 was more widespread we would be having more cases. I fear when many do go back to work without this knowledge that we will see a significant increase in cases.

Covid-19 isn't going away.

As safety professionals now is the time to learning everything you possibly can about how nuclear and hazardous waste site workers protect themselves. Yes, the PPE will be different as the contaminant and routes of entry are different, but that is the basis of ensuring the workers are safe while working and do not contaminate themselves and others while removing PPE.

Yes, through developments in science, there will be a time when we can get instant tests and results for Covid-19. Temperature checks are not acceptable alone as some people can be asymptomatic but still shedding viruses. There may be a time when such an instant test is required to get on a airplane or a cruise ship.

Some of you may laugh at this, but everything that enters my home goes through a rigorous process of containment and decontamination (either active or staged until virus cannot survive). Understanding lab sterile techniques and understanding how to conduct decontamination is essential. I have no plans of bringing this virus into my home through any pathway; food, mail, packages, people, etc..

Keep yourself safe, keep your workers safe...