Economic Recovery Can't Be at The Expense of Worker Safety

It goes without saying that the global COVID-19 pandemic has devastated business worldwide. Tens of millions of jobs – perhaps hundreds of millions depending on whose numbers you believe – have been negatively impacted by coronavirus. Moreover, every impacted job represents an employer who has also been affected. There is no escaping it.

As the world looks forward to the end of what has been arguably the most significant health event in the last 100 years, it is clear that economic recovery must now be a priority. Yet it cannot be at the expense of worker safety. Employers looking to get their businesses back on track as quickly as possible must resist the temptation to cut corners that would otherwise jeopardise safety.

Safety relating to the potential return of COVID-19 is a given. But let us go beyond that. COVID-19 is not the only safety issue we have to be concerned about. There are plenty of others, and fire safety is one of them. Companies must be as diligent about it in a post-COVID-19 world as they were before the pandemic began.

Employer Responsibilities to Fire Safety

Employers the world over are subject to certain legal responsibilities where fire safety is concerned. Here in the UK, we require businesses to conduct regular fire risk assessments carried out by one or more responsible persons. A complete risk assessment is a multistage process that begins by identifying potential risks and culminates with implementing strategies to mitigate those risks.

None of the fire risks that existed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic has suddenly disappeared. What constituted a significant risk before businesses were shut down is still a risk after they reopen. That means UK companies cannot slack off in their fire risk assessments.

How risks are assessed might change when businesses reopen, so it might be a matter of some companies having to return to a basic fire risk assessment template and then adjusting from there. But assessments must resume going forward. As soon as people are back to work, fire safety is a priority once again.

No Cutting Corners

A big concern in terms of fire safety is cutting corners as a result of a lack of financial resources. Unfortunately, it is going to take quite a bit of time to financially recover from the pandemic. Some companies are going to struggle to maintain cash flow. Others will find themselves struggling under a mountain of corporate debt.

Understandably, such conditions would encourage policymakers to cut corners. But again, financial recovery should not be pursued at the expense of worker safety. If employees are harmed by cost-cutting measures, just how beneficial can those measures really be?

Relying on the example of fire safety once again, an example of cutting corners would be failing to invest in new fire extinguishers despite their necessity. Another example would be skipping routine fire suppression system maintenance because the money isn't there.

A Greater Emphasis on Safety

Some companies could discover, upon reopening, that there needs to be a greater emphasis on safety than ever before. Employees returning to work might be so eager to get things going again that they are willing to sacrifice safety standards. That is not wise.

If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it is the fact that human life is more fragile than we realise. Just like it only takes a viral infection to change everything, one moment of carelessness could create a dangerous risk that ultimately sends an employee to the hospital.

The moment workers start returning to the office is the time to remind them of the importance of workplace safety. Sometime within the first week of work is ideal for holding safety meetings intended to bring managers and workers back up to speed. If some need refresher courses on company safety policies, it is a good idea to get these over with sooner rather than later.

Regulators have a role to play here, too. They are compelled to enforce existing workplace safety regulations for obvious reasons. At the same time, enforcement efforts need to be combined with the proper measure of compassion and pragmatism, understanding that the return to normal is going to take quite a bit of time.

Hard on Everyone

The COVID-19 pandemic has been hard on everyone. None of us is looking forward to the possibility of coronavirus returning late this year or early next year. It has decimated the global economy in ways that we will not even recognise for years to come. Nonetheless, recovery should not be pursued at the expense of employee safety. If safety was the number one priority before the onset of the pandemic, it must remain the top priority in its aftermath.

To operate a business otherwise would be to forsake the whole point of adopting a safety-first mindset. Under such conditions, it would be reasonable to ask why we locked down and socially isolated to begin with. But of course, no one wants to go there. So we can avoid the whole issue by being as diligent as ever to maintain employee safety – even during recovery.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes