Firms can use OSH systems to face the pandemic

worsening Covid-19 pandemic makes it necessary for employers to anticipate, prepare and respond to the situation or other major crisis by investing in Resilient Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Systems.

Governments, employers, workers and the population face unprecedented challenges in relation to the virus and the effects it has had on work.

The World Day for Safety and Health at Work, which fell on April 28, focused on strategies to strengthen national OSH systems to build resilience to face crises, drawing on lessons from the world of work.

Since emerging as a global crisis early last year, the Covid-19 pandemic has had profound impact everywhere. The pandemic has touched nearly every aspect of work, from the risk of transmission of the virus in workplaces to OSH risks that have emerged as a result of measures to mitigate the spread of the virus.

Shifts to new forms of working arrangements, such as the widespread reliance on teleworking, have, for example, presented opportunities for workers but also posed potential OSH risks, including psychosocial risks and violence, in particular.

The World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2021 focused on leveraging the elements of OSH systems as set out in the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006 (No. 187).

The World Day report examines how the crisis demonstrates the importance of strengthening OSH systems, including occupational health services, at the national and undertaking level.

TAN SRI LEE LAM THYE

Kuala Lumpur