TACKLING COVID-19 WITH TECHNOLOGY – HEALTH & SAFETY COMPLIANCE
Since sweeping the globe in early 2020, COVID-19 has created many practical challenges for companies. It has disrupted supply chains, created a wave of remote working and changed consumer activity. Months since the initial outbreak, a large degree of uncertainty remains.
On the health and safety front, new and changing COVID-19 standards have left many businesses crying out for clarity. They want a more robust and reliable way to track, manage and boost compliance under updated guidelines. Taking a digital approach may be the answer. Digital technology can tighten processes, help companies create a COVID-19-secure workplace and provide the right controls to protect staff and stakeholder interests during the crisis.
COVID-19 has certainly intensified workplace health and safety concerns. Organisations previously considered low-risk, such as offices and supermarkets, must now dedicate significant time and resources to creating a COVID-secure environment.
According to Osborne Clark, over half of UK companies expect COVID-19 to raise their risk profile, with 71 percent expecting to increase investment in legal compliance. The largest anticipated risk increase is from health and safety. Accordingly, many expect to drastically increase their health and safety spending in the months ahead.
Compliance challenges and regulatory expectations
With the increasing demand for consumer packaged goods (CPG) and personal protective equipment (PPE), frontline industrial workers are under pressure to carry out vital roles to ensure essential products make it into the global economy. Though automation is a growing force, in reality this demand falls not to robots, but to workers who need to be adequately protected.
Jan-Mar 2021 Issue
Richard Summerfield