The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the landscape for safety in a number of ways that will have lasting impact, says Terry Mathis, long-time columnist at EHS Today as well as founder and CEO of consulting firm ProAct Safety. “The world may return to something resembling its previous condition,” he predicts, “but the people in it will not do so completely. They will have been changed in ways that will continue to influence the culture into the future.”
In this presentation from last fall’s Safety Leadership Conference 2020, Mathis explains that safety cultures can change over time, particularly after a significant event like a global pandemic, which requires periodic assessments. “Unlike the usual safety culture assessment,” he notes, “post-COVID-19 assessments need to also address specific areas with a high likelihood of being impacted by the pandemic.”
Some of those areas include: social distancing, working from home, virtual meetings, an increase emphasis on precautions, and less direct supervision of workers.
Click on the video below to watch Mathis’s full presentation on “Your Safety Culture Has a Virus!”