More than a year into the pandemic, and we’re still learning how COVID-19 will transform the workforce. Remote work, once a rare perk offered by a small number of companies for a subset of its workforce, is now the norm for millions of employees worldwide. But as the vaccine becomes more broadly available, employees will be met with several new safety regulations and procedures as they return to the office.
The good news is that there are numerous tools now available to help organizations navigate even the most complex of these transformations, especially when it comes to emergencies. For starters, an emergency communication system helps safety leaders reach employees wherever they are, whether at home or in the office, at a moment’s notice in the event of an emergency, crisis or natural disaster.
But effective communication is only half the battle. Organizations also need a mechanism for proactively identifying potential threats to employee safety and rapidly dispatching relevant information to those in harm’s way before it’s too late. Since proximity to a threat is often the primary factor in determining who is at risk during an emergency, the ability to accurately pinpoint employees’ location is invaluable for an organization’s emergency response plans.
Here’s a deeper look at four leading trends organizations will face as we all navigate the new world of work in 2021—and beyond.
Investments in Better Threat Detection
Organizations are increasingly turning to emergency communication systems with location awareness and global threat intelligence capabilities so they can automatically monitor for threats and calculate the potential impact of said threats on their employees. Using real-time data from thousands of trusted sources, which is then vetted by trained analysts, this type of always-on threat intelligence helps organizations automatically determine what employees are near emerging threats, which can help drastically reduce response times.
Another reason organizations are turning to threat intelligence is to help eliminate human error. Threat intelligence tools can help safety and security teams sift through hundreds and thousands of alerts much more quickly, surfacing only those threats that matter most. Rocco Meraglia, vice president of health and safety at Hi-Crush Inc., estimates that 85% of the major safety incidents and fatalities he’s seen have been the result of human behavior. Using a threat assessment solution has enabled Hi-Crush to take the human element and subjective decisions out of threat analysis to minimize the organization’s overall exposure to risk.
Prioritization for a Safe Return to Work
One of the biggest priorities for many organizations in 2021 is determining how to prepare for a safe return to work post-COVID-19, regardless of when that may occur. Some organizations—particularly essential businesses that have operated throughout the pandemic—are already using emergency communication technology to protect employees in the workplace.
As COVID-19 lockdown restrictions began to ease in Texas, for example, Houston-based Bellicum Pharmaceuticals began using a emergency communication platform to help facilitate a safe, efficient and compliant reopening. Using multichannel survey notifications, Bellicum easily conducts mandatory daily employee health screenings, a requirement by the state of Texas to reopen.
Each morning, Bellicum sends a daily survey to all employees scheduled to work on-site asking if they have had any known exposure to or are experiencing any symptoms of COVID-19. Employees can then respond using a survey link within the message, a process that takes employees three seconds. The message is automatically resent to employees until a response is received. These real-time survey insights also allow the organization to swiftly notify employees in the event of a suspected or positive case of COVID-19 in the workplace, ensuring employees requesting assistance get the support they need.
Another safety procedure to consider includes the pod system. Mark Stibich, Ph.D., chief scientific officer at Xenex, says when employees work in pods, only certain people get to meet, and they don’t mix with other groups, such as those who are in a different department. That way, if exposure does happen, it’s limited in how far it can spread. Stibich also recommends reviewing the disinfection process. Make sure air filters are updated and employees are provided with the necessary supplies, and time, to regularly disinfect their workstations.
Plans for Remote Work to Continue
Before the pandemic, only 3.6% of American workers primarily worked from home. Today, nearly half of all employed adults are working remotely, and researchers expect many will never return to a corporate office. While opinions about remote work vary from person to person, most agree spending day after day between the same four walls has its challenges—particularly when it comes to communication.
Company-wide communication is more difficult with a dispersed workforce but is perhaps even more necessary. When everyone is in a physical office, company-wide announcements can be as simple as calling everyone into a room, but in a remote environment, emails are far more likely to be overlooked. What’s more, not all remote employees will not experience the same crisis in the same way. Two-way communication solves this by helping companies disseminate vital details and better identify those who may have been impacted by a critical event.
Additionally, a remote work environment makes it more difficult for managers to get a good read on their employees' health and wellness. Leaders should encourage frequent wellness checks to stay informed and act quickly should an employee test positive for COVID-19. Through regular check-ins, leaders can also assess employees’ feelings concerning vaccine availability, an eventual return to the office, work-from-home accommodations and more.
Enhancement of Safety and Health Programs
The COVID-19 pandemic has tested business continuity and emergency preparedness plans in ways we never imagined. One thing COVID-19 revealed to safety and health leaders across the globe is the vital importance of having a robust emergency communication strategy.
Poor employee communication can cause even more anxiety, confusion and stress in an already challenging work environment. Organizations need to leverage emergency communication systems to communicate with employees quickly and dynamically across multiple channels. Accurate, timely and reliable communication is paramount to employee health and safety. If employers don’t quickly communicate during an emergency and consistently control the narrative, someone else will. Social media, for example, makes it easy for misinformation to swiftly spread. Even a short delay in information can cause a minor incident to become a major issue.
Now is the time for safety leaders to take the hard-learned lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and make their organizations’ emergency communication strategy stronger and more effective. By optimizing safety communication plans—and leveraging modern emergency communication software to execute those plans—organizations can maximize employee health, safety and security in 2021 and beyond.
Peter Steinfeld is senior vice president of Safety Solutions for AlertMedia, emergency communication software that helps organizations monitor and respond to critical events to keep employees safe, informed and connected.