A new risk in enterprise : COVID-19

The world is suffering from a new virus that emerged in late 2019 in China. Vaccines have been developed but the fight against the spread of COVID-19 is still ongoing. There are still many sick people and always new cases. This fight requires laws and guidelines in place in the states and the involvement of everyone in their personal and professional environment.

What do we know about COVID-19?

Knowledge of an enemy is essential to fight it effectively.

– COVID-19 (CO for corona, VI for virus, and D for disease/disease) is the disease caused by a new virus, a coronavirus named SARS-CoV-2, first detected in late 2019 and identified in January 2020 in China. It is responsible for more than 4 million deaths worldwide and 111,000 deaths in France.

– If the symptoms and manifestations of COVID-19 are varied, they are generally similar to those of the flu (cough, fever, fatigue, … ). The disease can cause serious respiratory problems (pneumonia) requiring respiratory assistance and sometimes lead to death.
Recovery is sometimes very long and some patients retain after-effects of their illness (this is called “long COVID”).
Infected persons may be “asymptomatic” (i.e. have no signs of illness), but they are still contagious.

– The modes of transmission of COVID-19 are identical to those of the viruses that cause influenza. An infected person spreads the virus through air and contact. When the person breathes, talks, coughs or sneezes, the virus is present in the droplets expelled into the air. The patient also has viruses on his skin, his hands in particular will carry it on the touched objects.

– If the vaccination available today slows down the spread of the virus, it is necessary to continue to respect precautions to limit new contaminations. All these precautions are called “barrier gestures”:
– hand washing,
– washing hands, keeping a safe distance of 2 meters between people,
– wearing a mask,
– ventilation of rooms, …

Legal provisions

The pandemic fluctuates according to the measures taken by each country to contain it. The states adapt themselves permanently according to the number of contaminations, hospital capacities, political choices, economic possibilities, …

– Everyone must be informed about the legal provisions in force, not only for themselves but also for the company, its employees, customers or visitors.

– It is also necessary to find out about the standards (e.g. concerning the different types of masks, hand disinfectant gels, cleaning and disinfecting products, etc.).

How to set up anti – COVID-19 procedures in your company?

The world economy has suffered from repeated stoppages in activity. Today, everyone wants to get back to work in the best conditions. Protecting employees and customers is a duty of the company and a difficult task.
We give you some general guidelines to target your strategy against the spread of the virus responsible for COVID-19.

– Get informed :
– about the disease and the development of knowledge about the COVID-19 virus,
– on the legal provisions in force in the country, locally, or in your sector of activity.

– Make a survey of your employees, your clientele, your premises.
For example:
– Who are the people at risk among your employees (age, specific pathologies, … )?
– Which positions are at risk (proximity, frequent contact with other people, travel abroad, etc.)?
– What are the areas at risk (small space, handling shared between users, … )?

– Think about :
– how to inform the staff and the customers
– the control of the implementation of anti-COVID measures and the verification of their effectiveness.

– Some examples of practical achievements :
– installation of partitions between workstations,
– organization of working hours in the company,
– reinforcement of the cleaning of the premises,
…

So many measures to be considered, solutions to be imagined and organized constitute an important responsibility and a considerable work for an entrepreneur.
Fortunately, there are tools in the form of checklists to guide you, without forgetting anything, in the various situations you encounter.