THE International Labour Organization (ILO) has released a new tool on safety and health for decision-makers in the world of work to confront COVID-19.

The new tool contains 10 steps for the design of return strategies for offices, factories and all kinds of workplaces in Latin America and the Caribbean that are faced with the progressive lifting of measures.

“The workplace will no longer be the same. The new guide seeks to facilitate the application of safety and health measures in times of COVID-19, and is aimed at companies, workers and their representatives as well as other stakeholders involved in a task that is considered decisive for productive reactivation.

“Occupational safety and health must have the highest priority. We must get used to the idea that the workplace will no longer be the same and that it will be in this scenario where a decisive battle against the pandemic will be waged,” highlights the ILO regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Vinícius Pinheiro, in the foreword to the publication.

The ILO’s return-to-work strategy takes a clear and simple approach to explaining key considerations such as priorities, stakeholders, main objectives, and finally 10 steps that can be followed to promote safety and health at work in times of COVID-19.

“Occupational safety and health must be considered as a fundamental investment to protect workers and their families and to ensure the continuity of companies,” Pinheiro explained. It is one of the keys to reactivating production with decent work, and for reconciling the objectives of containing the pandemic and economic recovery.”

The guide is aimed at employers and their representatives, workers and their representatives, joint safety and health committees, occupational safety and health professionals, and related institutions and organisations, among others.

The objectives of the tool are to support the adoption of preventative measures in the workplace against the risk of contagion of COVID-19 and other dangers associated with the pandemic, encourage social dialogue on the subject, and promote good practices to develop occupational health and safety protocols.

Avoiding new outbreaks of the contagion that endangers lives and affects reactivation strategies is part of the guide’s prevention and control objective. It also aims to design safety and health strategies with a human-centred approach.

The 10 steps are:

1. Set up a team to plan and organise return to work

2. Decide who returns to work and how

3. Adopt engineering and organisational measures

4. Adopt regular cleaning and disinfection of premises

5. Promote personal hygiene measures

6. Provide personal protective equipment (PPE) and inform on its correct use

7. Health surveillance of workers

8. Consider psychosocial and other risks

9. Review and update emergency and evacuation plans

10. Review and update preventative and control measures.