Several European governments are currently planning a gradual lifting of the lockdown measures that were put in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. In its roadmap towards lifting the containment measures, published halfway through this month, the European Commission suggested that member states do so in a gradual and “coordinated” fashion, provided the health situation allows it. As such the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) published, on Friday 24 April, guidance to protect the health and safety of workers who return to work. These non-binding guidelines offer practical responses to the questions that employers are asking, such as how to limit as far as possible exposure to the coronavirus in the work place and how to update their risk assessment, while taking care of workers who have fallen ill.
Involving workers. The document published by EU-OSHA highlights that identifying risks and updating these should be “the starting point” for any economic recovery. To do this, the prevalence of the virus in the area should be assessed, while workers and health and safety representatives should be involved. “The participation of workers and their representatives in OSH management is a key to success and a legal obligation. This applies also to measures undertaken at workplaces in relation to Cov
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