Are you ready for COVID-19 Alert Level 2?

No doubt you were glued to the screen at 4pm Monday, waiting for the much-anticipated announcement - and if you're like the many people who have already been on the phone to me, you're now running around like a headless chicken preparing to open...

Before you race off and create the next cluster, take 2 minutes to read some quick guidance from me, that I've already been sharing with business owners and managers today:

Plan. Going back to work on Thursday is not going to be business as usual. Instead of just your immediate team, we are now part of a team of 5 million and every team member has expectations of you. Take the time to make a plan. This may include re-organising floor plans or creating one way traffic flows. Not sure where to start? Give me a call and I will link you through to some great industry guidance that has been published to help people just like you.

Communicate. Once you have a plan you need to communicate this. Communicate it with your workers, your contractors, your clients, your suppliers. Sing it from the rooftops. Not only will this ensure you effectively implement your plan, but it will give your customers' confidence. Confidence that they can deal with you safely, because you know what you're doing, you're respectful of the situation and because you care enough to do a good job of making a plan and executing it.

Walk before you run. I know you want to get back to work. I know you want to see people and no doubt you're keen to give out a few hugs and kisses and the odd high five. But it will be bad for business if you get caught up in the next Covid cluster so be cautious and take level 2 seriously. Use your coming days smartly: create a cohesive plan that actually makes sense and does what it needs to do. I can't stress enough that level 2 means you'll still be operating differently to the norm - take your time, be prepared for things to be slower than you're used to, and do things right so we don't have to head back to level 3, take 2!

Please get in touch if you need help with your plan or want me to have a quick look at what you've come up with. There are so many great resources out there and I am happy to send you in the right direction so that we can all do our part to make level 2 work for all of us.

Comments

Are you a team player?

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Are we damaging risk?

Risk it is a four letter word, yet a word within safety circles that causes so much tension and can be the fuel to many heated debates. 'The effect of uncertainty on objectives' - International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) ' Risk is the chance, high or low, of somebody being harmed by the hazard, and how serious the harm could be.' - Health and Safety Executive (HSE) A quick search would lead people to a number of definitions of this four letter word, as illustrated above. After numerous discussions with some very educated people what I have managed to deduce is that; We will never agree on the definition of risk We all seem to believe that when assessing risk we need to consider two broad (I use the word broad intentionally) things; Risk = Consequence x Likelihood But that is not what I am here to look at. What I am here to try have you reflect on is... 'Are we doing more damage to risk in the way we manage, speak and educate about it ...

Safety culture : Removing the # 8 wire?

Does creating a culture of safety mean getting rid of the 'ol number 8 wire'? This is a general 'fear', 'concern' or misconception I come across on a regular basis when talking to people about health and safety. Before we can answer that question, we should look at three things, what is 'culture'?, what is 'safety'? and what exactly is the 'ol number 8 wire'? Culture is defined in many ways by people. However a couple definitions that resonate with me are ' Culture is the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts. In this case 'safety' By Kim Ann Zimmerman The Center for Advance Research on Language Acquisition goes a step further, defining culture as shared patterns of behaviors and interactions, cognitive constructs and understanding that are learned by socialization. Thus, it can be seen as the growth of a group ...

A simple and practical guide to NZ Health and Safety

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