For the last couple of weeks, we've been hearing about companies preparing to go back to work. This, in and of itself, raises questions about how we can do this in a way that doesn't create a second wave of infections that ends up being much worse than the first one.
Reckoning the risks of returning to work
No man is an island. Even people who live alone interact with other people, so returning to work will have to be a careful, gradual process. HR professional body the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has provided a three test measure for reckoning the risks of returning to work.
- Is it essential? If not, people who can work from home should continue to do so. Since the Coronavirus can be spread by people who don't have symptoms, I personally prefer to treat everyone as if they actually have it to keep myself safe. Working on this assumption helps to limit transmission. Meanwhile, the business can continue to use the Government’s Job Retention Scheme for longer, giving them the time needed to put safety measures and clear employee guidance and consultation in place.
- Is it safe? Employers have a duty of care to ensure the workplace is safe. Social distancing measures will have to continue, with workspaces and common areas being set up to keep people apart. Breaks will also have to be staggered to keep the number of people in the break areas at a minimum. Sanitation stations will have to be provided with regular cleaning of desks and common areas. Employees can return to work in small batches with regular review of these measures to ensure they work before more are encouraged to join them.
- Is it mutually agreed? CIPD research found that 4 in 10 people are anxious about returning to work and there are concerns people could be forced back. It’s vital that there is a clear dialogue between employers and their people so concerns, such as commuting by public transport, can be raised and individuals needs and worries are taken into account. There will need to be flexibility on both sides to accommodate different working times or schedules as ways of managing some of these issues.
People's concerns should not be dismissed. As a woman with a compromised immune system, I share those concerns. Even if that wasn't a problem, my husband is a care worker. I could catch it and pass it to him, or he could catch it, pass it to me, and I might bring it to work and infect people there. Not being badly affected by it yourself doesn't make it okay to pass it on to someone who might die from it.
Staying at home forever is not an option
Meanwhile, working at home is proving to be problematic. A recent survey by the IWFM found
- 41% report having an inappropriate working environment at home. Only a quarter (24%) benefit from a separate home office, with two-thirds (64%) resorting to make-shift workstations at dining room tables, sofas and beds.
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maintaining productivity, with half (50%) reporting finding it difficult to stay motivated and focused when working from home, and 44% facing challenges with distractions in the home. Those working from sofas and armchairs are taking a productivity hit – with 18% reporting a lack of motivation and over a quarter (25%) working fewer hours per day than they did in the office.
- working from home is blurring lines between work and personal life. 38% find it hard to switch off at the end of the day and a quarter (25%) feel pressure to respond to emails after working hours. 62% miss a clear separation between work and home life and 40% miss a clear structure to the day
- social isolation is also a concern – with face-to-face interaction with colleagues the number one thing employees miss about office life (72%).
While some of us thrive at home, others would rather be able to return to office life and see people socially in and out of work. Okay, I'm one of those people. I actually have a home office but it's also a dressing room with clothes hung up on racks.
Outside of FM and admin, those sectors that aren't considered essential are being hit hard by the lack of demand. Retail sales for non-food items are plummeting and some brick-and-mortar stores, including my beloved Debenhams, are in administration. In a country whose economy runs largely on service industries, this is devastating. We have to get back to work, and soon, but we have to be careful in how we do it and put safety first at all times.
Mitie's Guide to getting Britain back to business
FM giant Mitie has provided a .pdf guide to get us back to work in the safest way possible. You can actually be Mitie Assured to increase confidence in people entering the premises if you follow the plan provided here. They will ask you to provide an email address, then you can download it. They've recommended four phases of getting Britain back to business. These are:
- Facilities and portfolio evaluation: carry out a broad and comprehensive assessment of your facilities.
- Recommissioning the work environment: check your working environments and bring them back into operation.
- Adjusting to the new normal: introduce new working practices to mitigate risk and increase resilience.
- Future-proofing: bring in technical and procedural changes to ensure readiness for future business disruptions.
At the end of this document there is a description of what needs to happen and a more detailed checklist or set of questions to consider. All of the content, directions, and checklists need to be considered within the context of the guidelines and protocols of the UK government and public health bodies – Public Health England, Public Health Scotland, Public Health Wales, and Public Health Northern Ireland. It is the combination of the public health policies and operational implementation that will ensure a smooth, effective, and efficient opening of businesses and facilities.
It's worth checking out as the information is valuable in terms of providing a way to measure the plans you may already have in terms of whether or not they're compliant with guidelines provided by public health bodies and the UK Government. I've already sent it to my bosses in case they find it useful.
Adopt best practice in office working practices
The British Council for Offices has come up with a range of solutions to protect the health of office workers from the receptionist to the admin workers, cleaners, and visitors.
These include digital visitors' badges, increased bike storage and lockup, replacing communal toilets with genderless pods with touch-free doors, taps, and soap dispensers, and the installation of humidification and ventilation systems that are hostile to viruses.
Hotdesking, a popular practice, will have to either adapt to become safer or be abandoned altogether. Strategies include antibacterial surfaces, sanitation stations at the desk to enable users to wipe surfaces clean before and after use, and wipeable screens to protect users.
Adapting the furlough scheme
A survey by the CIPD has found that the Government's furlough scheme, which has saved the public purse a great deal of money by keeping people off welfare, has found that many employers want it to continue until September and to adapt it to meet staffing needs.
The CIPD’s survey shows that almost half (46%) of employers have already furloughed staff, while another 10% plan to do so. However more than three quarters of employers that have already furloughed staff (76%) or plan to furlough staff (78%) said that making the scheme more flexible to enable furloughed staff to work reduced hours would be useful.
Seven in ten employers (70%) that have already used or are considering using the furlough scheme, said that up to half of furloughed staff could potentially work reduced hours, while 16% of these organisations reported that more than 50% of furloughed staff could work reduced hours.
The CIPD's survey agrees with the Resolution Foundation's assessment that the Job Retention Scheme has been successful in reducing the likelihood of redundancies and unemployment. The flexibility to use it to get people back to work on a part-time basis would enable its benefits to continue for both employers and the public purse.
A green return to work?
Lockdown has done us all the world of good, at least as far as the environment is concerned.
Sharp falls in road traffic and industrial emissions have also resulted in 1.3m fewer days of work absence, 6,000 fewer children developing asthma, 1,900 avoided emergency room visits and 600 fewer preterm births, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
...The study does not include deaths from coronavirus itself. Scientists believe air pollution increases the malignancy of the disease and some studies suggest the virus can attach to particulate matter, but the researchers behind the latest model said they did not have sufficient data to include this in their models. - Clean air in Europe during lockdown ‘leads to 11,000 fewer deaths’, by Jonathan Watts for The Guardian 30/074/2020
As well as cleaning up the air, the lockdown has caused a reduction in other pollutants and emissions, leading to cleaner water and the ingress of wildlife into urban areas. While this is all good news, it's not making that much of a difference to climate change.
“Carbon dioxide stays in the air a long time, so although emissions are smaller, they are still happening and so carbon dioxide is still building up, just a little more slowly,” said Richard Betts, the head of climate impacts research at the Met Office Hadley Centre, who was not involved in the paper. “If we want to halt the build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, we need to stop putting it there altogether. It’s like we’re filling a bath and have turned down the tap slightly, but not turned it off.” - Lockdowns trigger dramatic fall in global carbon emissions, by Fiona Harvey for The Guardian 19/05/2020
Basically, returning to similar or even increased carbon emissions will quickly undo any good that has been achieved by locking down. But lockdown is not a long-term solution. We've all got to eat. So what can we do?
Manufacturers are leading the way
Sustainability is not just good for the environment, it's also good for business and the bottom line.
Research, undertaken by Make UK, the manufacturers’ organisation, and energy company E.ON prior to the lockdown showed that sustainability and profitability go hand in hand: manufacturers who put sustainability at the heart of their businesses have seen real benefits from doing so in the last 12 months - with 40% reporting increased profit margins and 30% increased competitiveness as a result. - Post-pandemic opportunity for greater sustainability - i-FM blog post 19/05/2020
As increasing numbers of businesses recognise that making small changes such as using LED lights can help to move us all towards net-zero carbon emissions, many of them are calling for the Government to provide better incentives to assist them in adopting more sustainable methods for energy consumption and manufacturing processes. Meanwhile, they are developing new products and services to enable decarbonisation.
The role of government
The Coronavirus crisis has forced governments to bail out businesses to keep the economy going. The question is, will they continue to support polluting industries or will they enable a return to carbon-intensive activities as a quick fix for the economy?
Since the way people work has changed, the need for new roads has reduced. Increased pedestrianisation and more cycleways are being mooted by European governments. Meanwhile, some of the biggest employers are also the most polluting. Should they be bailed out for now in the hope that they will adopt more sustainable practices in the future? Politics is fraught with concern on the right for economic recovery by any means necessary and on the left for a cleaner, greener future.
The shape of the future
The new normal is fast approaching. As we move towards a return to work, will we take the easy option for a quicker recovery or make the hard choices now that will pay off later? Personally, I hope we'll aim for a sustainable approach with a strong focus on health and safety. Thankfully the information we need is at hand. Whether or not we take the advice we're given is up to us.
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