WHO Outlines Workplace Control Measures for Coronavirus

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is encouraging businesses to implement a number of low-cost measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus within workplaces or while employees are travelling.

In January 2020 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of a new coronavirus disease in Hubei Province, China to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. The WHO said there was a high risk of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spreading to other countries around the world.

The WHO also says that COVID-19 spreads in a similar way to the flu. Workers are at risk of catching the virus when they touch contaminated surfaces or objects – and then touch their eyes, nose or mouth.

If workers are standing within one meter of a person with COVID-19 they can also catch it by breathing in droplets coughed out or exhaled by them.

In a five-page guide released this week, WHO is urging businesses to ensure workplaces are clean and hygienic, and that commonly touched surfaces are disinfected regularly. Similarly, businesses should promote regular and thorough hand-washing by employees, contractors and customers.

Businesses are also being encouraged to send workers home if any symptoms develop and to telecall where possible.

“Brief your employees, contractors and customers that if COVID-19 starts spreading in your community anyone with even a mild cough or low-grade fever (37.3 C or more) needs to stay at home,” the report states.

“They should also stay home (or work from home) if they have had to take simple medications, such as paracetamol/acetaminophen, ibuprofen or aspirin, which may mask symptoms of infection.”

Businesses are also being encouraged to develop a contingency and business continuity plan for an outbreak in the communities where the business operates.

“The plan should address how to keep your business running even if a significant number of employees, contractors and suppliers cannot come to your place of business – either due to local restrictions on travel or because they are ill.”

“Employers should start doing these things now, even if COVID-19 has not arrived in the communities where they operate. They can already reduce working days lost due to illness and stop or slow the spread of COVID-19 if it arrives at one of your workplaces.”

Read more: Can Face Masks Protect Against Coronavirus?
Read more: Multiple Regulators Issue Safety Warnings Over Coronavirus Outbreak