Safety Culture in the News

Safety Culture in the News

The safety culture of businesses can make or break the first stage of reopening

Businesses can make or break the first stage of reopening

The seven metrics needed for a Phase 1 opening have been met, but it’s worth keeping in mind that the metrics that public health officials and politicians look at don’t apply exactly the same way to rural small communities and wildly dense metropolises alike. That’s one reason that the businesses that are permitted to reopen are responsible for creating their own standard operating procedures (SOPs) in order to keep their employees safe and ensure that the pandemic remains manageable in our region. Those procedures will need to include not just continued testing, but also screening in the form of questions each employee will have to answer, such as “Do you feel well?” and “Have you been exposed to anyone who has tested positive for Coronavirus?”

Two people, one in safety vest and helmet, speak in a room.Author Samantha Lushtak, right, is an environmental health and safety specialist. Photo provided. It will be up to business owners to implement a safety culture that ensures safety, compliance, and honesty among their workforce. Business owners who aren’t used to being safety specialists will have to take on that role to some extent, as they incorporate public health direction into their own plans to successfully reopen.

Business owners will have to create a safety culture in which employees will be comfortable answering the screening questionnaires suggested by Public Health Director Frank Kruppa truthfully. Employers will need to quickly create or adjust their safety cultures so that employees will not be afraid to answer in the affirmative about a potential COVID contact or be nervous about lost wages, missing out on a promotion, or some other career or income damaging prospect should they be turned away at the door.