Government needs to include pandemic diseases as part of disaster management plan and provide needed support at affected locations

P.A. Murali, Vice-President and Head-Regional Sustainability and Regulatory Affairs, Clariant Chemicals shares his advice to safety officers with regard to safety of employees in the COVID-19 scenario, changes to occupational safety and health standards to be anticipated in large organizations, challenges he perceives in ensuring the safety and health of employees post COVID-19, and the changes the government needs to come up with to safety and health laws in the changed scenario.

Interviewed by Adeesh Sharma

What is your advice to safety officers with regard to safety of employees in the COVID-19 scenario?

Every manufacturing site has its own challenges and Safety officers have an important role to understand the requirements, prepare a process or a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), provide guidance to line managers, employees, contractors and stakeholders. This is not only to minimize the risk of COVID19 spread but also to reduce the risk of disruptions in the activities arising due to this pandemic.

What sort of changes to occupational safety and health standards should now be anticipated in large organizations?

To ensure safety and health of all, it is very important to set up adequate precautionary measures to all those who enter the company premises.
At Clariant, we have multiple manufacturing sites and we have introduced many safety and health standards to ensure maximum safety of our employees. All the sites have created teams A/B and report to work every alternate week. This reduced workforce helps in effective implementation of safety and health requirements along with ensuring business continuity. In a worst-case situation, only employees of one team gets affected in this case. Everyone entering the workplace first time are required to fill a self-declaration form, temperature checks (non-contact type thermometer) are done daily while entering and leaving, social distancing practices are followed while travelling in the company bus and also while working in the shop floor or in office. Employees are encouraged to follow good hygiene practices such as frequent hand washing, face masks along with other required PPE