Saturday, May 14, 2022

Will the endemic COVID-19 world be any safer?

 COVID-19 has disrupted so much in our lives.  Over the past year of this pandemic, many of us have had to move online for work, attend funerals and family gatherings by Zoom, forego in-person visits, shop on line, learn about and us masks, and sanitize hands until they hurt. 


On top of these changes, life goes on with its own challenges.  Family members get ill, cars break down, and homes need repair.  The pandemic complicates our lives and the access to services to support our families.  Thank goodness for the workers who continue to provide them throughout this pandemic. 


UV Germicidal Irradiation


As I sat in hospitals with family members needing care and treatment for non-COVID-19 conditions, I had hours to observe medical and support staff delivering care and support under straining conditions.  Given my background, I could not help but notice the near universal adherence to protocols.  In one ward, I got my first chance to observe an Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) robot being deployed to disinfect rooms between patients.  I suspect such technical innovations will become part of hospital and hotel routines long after the risks associated with COVID-19 have receded. 


Mask Science, Price, Acceptance


We know more about masks than ever new before.  I admit to being more compliant in my mask wearing for non-COVID-19 task than I was prior to the pandemic. The science around masks, mask wearing, and mask use has changed the risk-benefit equation in favour of masks.  Mass production and improved durability/reusability of masks has driven down costs. Although mask mandates have expired or been withdrawn in many instances, I see many more people wearing them in public places than prior to the pandemic. In my community (Metro Vancouver), more than half of a respondents to a recent survey said they would continue to wear masks even though no longer mandated and further quarter said they would consider wearing masks in crowded interior spaces.  This certainly suggests both an understanding of the value masking has to offer and a trust in that protection that was not so ubiquitous before the pandemic.


Heightened Safety and Health Awareness… maybe?


Late last November, an “atmospheric river” dumped a record amount of rain on our community and overwhelmed the drainage system.  In the ensuing months, restoration and trades vehicles lined the block.  Interacting with the tradespersons during a pandemic was a concern; as it turns out, any concern on my part was misplaced. 


Every adjuster, supervisor, painter, mover, asbestos abatement technician, carpenter, and floorer was fully vaccinated, wore a mask, kept socially distance, and reported full vaccination status before entering our home.  Just as impressive, many of the trades people spontaneously offered explanations or information about the safety procedures they were taking and why. Here are a couple of examples.


When a colour code error resulted in one room being painted an almost iridescent green, a new paint crew arrived with the correct colour.  When I noted the similarity of the incorrect colour on our walls, one painter noted, “It does look like the glow-in-the dark watch faces you used to see on watches.”  Her colleague added, “The paint they used to make that green colour glow contained radium.  The ‘radium girls’ who painted the dials would often link their brushes to give them a more precise tip.  It made many of them sick and killed some of them.  That’s part of why we have the safety and health laws that protect us today.”  She went on to say she was glad someone was looking out for the health of workers and why she was more than happy to wear her mask.  [I had never heard the term “radium girls” but looked it up.  You might like Richard Stockton’s post, “The Unbelievable True Story Of America’s Radium Girls,” (ATI Website: published October 18, 2021) available at https://allthatsinteresting.com/radium-girls ].


The plumber had to drill through concrete. He noted the noise and dust would be unsafe for us and that was why he was wearing a respirator, safety glasses, and hearing protection.  He then lay out his tools and uncoiled his extension cord, all the time self-talking his way through his safety routine, “There is only one safe way to use an extension cord: uncoil from the female end, check for damage as you go, plug into wall last… never drag the plug end…”  This mantra was not for our sake but it certainly reassured me that he knew what he was doing and was going to do things correctly every time. 


It's a new world… and with “newness” risks


If the COVID-19 pandemic has raised safety and health awareness, improved compliance with safe work procedures, and sparked adoption of improved safety and health technologies, then there is a chance that safer, healthier workplaces will be the result.  We will need that advantage to offset the increased risks in this new endemic COVID-19 era in the workplace.  


Pandemics will no doubt strike the world again.  Changes in workplace demographics will continue.  “Newness” [of people, technology, work-processes] and rapid adaptation [to supply line shortages and staffing challenges] in the workplace will increase risk.  Hopefully, the gains and momentum towards safer and healthier workplaces will more than compensate for the new and rising risks.

Be safe out there. 

 

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