The COVID-19 pandemic has put a lot of pressure on health care services and elderly care. Staff have had an extremely heavy and often stressful workload and have worked very hard. The risk of mental ill health may have increased. This is why the Government proposes funds to support staff in regional and municipal health care and elderly care in its autumn amending budget for 2020. This will make money available for crisis support, counselling and trauma support. The proposal is based on an agreement between the government parties, the Centre Party and the Liberal Party.

EU Reporter (27.08.2020) German coalition parties agreed on Tuesday (25 August) to extend measures to cushion the effects of the coronavirus crisis on Europe’s biggest economy at a cost of up to €10 billion, including prolonging a short-time work scheme and freezing insolvency rules, write Andreas Rinke, Holger Hansen and Madeline Chambers and Joseph Nasr in Berlin. 

The scientific community's understanding of how the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spreads is evolving. This COVID-19 Clearinghouse was established as a central resource for construction employers and workers to find the latest research, guidance documents, training and other resources to help prevent the spread of the disease as construction work continues in some markets and starts up in others.

This website  of the  Special Commission on Prevention presents international examples in 5 languages for small and medium sized enterprises in almost all areas of occupational safety and health. A new topical cluster on Corona has now been set up to support small and medium-sized companies on how to adress the COVID-19 at the workplace.

The BG BAU (Berufsgenossenschaft der Bauwirtschaft/construction industry) provides various information material for protection against corona. Please find attached the links to the different materials. (Attention: Most of them only exist in German).

Die BG BAU (Berufsgenossenschaft der Bauwirtschaft) stellt verschiedenes Informationsmaterial zum Schutz vor Corona zur Verfügung. Im Folgenden finden Sie die Links zu den verschiedenen Materialien.

Guideline documents regarding the performance of risks assessment:

Services (in German)
https://www.bgbau.de/fileadmin/Medien-Objekte/Medien/Gefaehrdungsbeurteilung/2020-03-20_Kurzhandlungshilfe_GB_Handwerker_im_Kundendienst_SARS-CoV-2.pdf

Construction (in German)
https://www.bgbau.de/fileadmin/Medien-Objekte/Medien/Gefaehrdungsbeurteilung/2020-03-20_Kurzhandlungshilfe_GB_Baustellen_SARS-CoV-2.pdf

Cleaners (in German)
https://www.bgbau.de/fileadmin/Medien-Objekte/Medien/Gefaehrdungsbeurteilung/BG_BAU_GefBeurt_Coronavirus.pdf

About face masks:

Decision guidance: Face masks (in German)
https://www.bgbau.de/fileadmin/Medien-Objekte/Medien/Aushang_Poster/Atemschutz_und_Corona_V3-Az1_BG_BAU_Layout_2.pdf

Booklet:

Pandemic influenza planning (in German)
https://www.bgbau.de/fileadmin/Medien-Objekte/Medien/Broschuere_Flyer/10_Tipps_zur_Pandemieplanung.pdf

Posters:

Use masks properly (in German)
https://www.bgbau.de/fileadmin/Medien-Objekte/Medien/Aushang_Poster/Mund-Nasen-Schutz_richtig_Tragen_A2_mit_Text_V1.pdf  

Hygiene poster (13 languages)
https://www.bgbau.de/service/angebote/medien-center-suche/medium/hygieneplakat-der-bg-bau/                  

Essential rules for cleaners (in German)
https://www.bgbau.de/fileadmin/Medien-Objekte/Medien/Aushang_Poster/BGBAU_LebenswichtigeRegeln_Gebaeudereiniger_DINA3_ohneBeschnitt.pdf

The International Section on Prevention in Transportation, together with its member BG Verkehr, has produced five fact sheets on Covid-19 protective measures for various transportation sectors in six languages. The fact sheets on infection prevention in road haulage, waste disposal, postal logistics/CEP and taxi and driving school operations are now available for free download at the BG Verkehr  Coronavirus Website in English, German, Polish, Romanian, Russian and Turkish. In the fact sheets, BG Verkehr's prevention experts have compiled industry-specific recommendations for infection protection.

These industry-specific recommendations specify the time-limited occupational safety standard of the German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS). This occupational health and safety standard is the guideline for the protection against infection across all sectors. During work and in practical cases, company physicians and occupational safety specialists offer a competent point of reference.

Information on the coronavirus and the associated health protection is developing dynamically. Therefore, the fact sheets are regularly reviewed to ensure that they are up to date. You are kindly invited to visit the media catalogue and the Corona virus information page (only available in German) regularly.

„Corona-Spezial“ nennt sich ein neues Lern- und Unterweisungsmodul der BGHW. Die Beschäftigten lernen, wie sie sich richtig verhalten, um eine mögliche Ansteckung mit dem Coronavirus zu vermeiden. Das Modul ist Teil des Online-Lernprogramms (WBT) „Sicher arbeiten – Gesundheit schützen“ der BGHW.

„Corona-Spezial“ kann zur betrieblichen Unterweisung eingesetzt werden. In Videosequenzen sowie durch spielerische und interaktive Elemente werden wichtige organisatorische Maßnahmen und Verhaltensregeln erklärt, um Infektionen zu vermeiden.

Anschaulich werden die wichtigsten Verhaltensregeln in Corona-Zeiten erklärt: Dazu gehören ausreichend Abstand zu Mitmenschen zu halten sowie - neben der üblichen Händehygiene - die sogenannte Husten- und Niesetikette (in die Armbeuge husten und niesen). Wenn der Abstand nicht konsequent eingehalten werden kann, ist das Tragen eines Mund-Nase-Schutzes geboten. Ferner sind regelmäßiges Lüften und die allgemeine Hygieneregeln wichtig. Das Lernmodul gibt praxisnahe Tipps, wie die Verhaltensregeln im Betrieb und auf dem Weg dorthin umgesetzt werden können. Ergänzt um ein betriebliches Maßnahmenkonzept kann der Ansteckungsgefahr auf diese Weise wirksam begegnet werden.

Mit Fragen zu den verschiedenen Kapiteln wird das erlernte Wissen vertieft. Am Schluss des Lernmoduls  werden die Antworten ausgewertet. Das Ergebnis kann zur Dokumentation der Unterweisung an die Führungskraft versendet werden.

In wake of the COVID-19 crisis and nationwide lockdown, India has been grappling with unprecedented challenges that range from maintaining law and order, access to medical facilities, food, social security to availability of medical facilities. The newest hurdle to have joined this bandwagon has been a systematic increase in incidents of attacks and harassment of its nurses, doctors and other medical personnel. Fueled by paranoia and fear in an increasingly trying time, these ill-informed attacks seem to target medical professional who are feared to be carrying and spreading the diseases. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare1 in its press release dated April 22, 2020 said that, "perceived as carriers of the diseases, there has been stigmatization and ostracization and sometimes worse, acts of unwarranted violence and harassment against our medical professionals. Such a situation tends to hamper the medical community from performing their duties to their optimum best and maintaining their morale, which is a critical need in this hour of national health crisis."

Necessitated by the growing incidents, and upon asserting that the government has a zero tolerance for violence or intimidation of its medical professionals, which includes its dedicated group of doctors, nurses and para-medics who are spearheading a global health crisis, the Union Cabinet on April 22, 2020  approved the Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, an Ordinance to amend the Epidemics Diseases Act, 1897.

The key amendments of the colonial legislation seek to protect its healthcare personnel's, clinics and other facilities.

• It makes any attack upon them a cognizable and a non-bailable offence.
• It solidifies the definition of what constitutes as violence i.e., harassment, physical injury and damage to property, as well as who is covered under the ambit of healthcare personnel.
• Further, commission or abetment of any acts of violence against said healthcare professionals shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of three months to five years, followed with a fine of Rs.50,000/- to Rs.2,00,000/-.  In aggravated cases concerning grievous hurt, the ordinance directs imprisonment for a term of six months, and up to seven years, and with a fine of Rs.1,00,000/- to Rs.5,00,000/.
• The law also envisions time bound investigations, in addition to compensation for injury or damage to property, to almost twice the fair market value.

International Social Security Association (ISSA) (16.07.2020) The Section on Prevention in Transportation of the International Social Security Association (ISSA), together with its member BG Verkehr, has produced five fact sheets on COVID-19 protective measures for various transportation sectors in six languages.

The New York Times (22.05.2020) More than a third of America’s Covid-19 deaths can be traced back to these facilities. Experts suggest several ways to make them safer.

Published: May 2020
By: Jay Patel, Research Assistant for Income Security Policy

The U.S. workers’ compensation system in its current form is complex, opaque and fragmented. Unlike other social insurance programs, it is wholly administered at the state level, and there is neither federal oversight nor any federal mandate that sets out minimum standards. As a result, there is substantial variation across states in levels of both coverage and benefits. Moreover, compensation differs for job-related injuries versus illnesses.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the challenge of determining whether employees who contract a highly contagious disease that exposes some workers more than others qualify for benefits under workers’ compensation. This brief explores how those two disparities – from state to state and between injuries and illnesses – are playing out during this crisis, and longer-term implications.

Download the third fact sheet in the Academy's COVID-19 Legislative Response series.

The japanese company IDEC, an Vision Zero Supporter who signed up on the Vision Zero website to promote safety, health and wellbeing, has developed this interesting tool to manage wellbeing in times of COVID-19. Leveraging the Vision Zero philosophy to ensure Safety, Health, and Wellbeing, this checklist tool is based on the 7 Golden Rules. It focusses on the Vision Zero aspects of wellbeing, such as a ‘lack of control’ or a ‘lack of social support’ while working remotely, as well as other factors that define wellbeing at home. It is designed around IDEC’s core values being integrity, innovation, communication, passion and harmony. A first test was conducted and the checklist was sent to over 1300 employees that currently work from home. The initial survey result showed a gradualpositive trend in the overall wellbeing of its employees, but also helped IDEC to identify areas of improvements.

Download the tool here.

COVID-19 Series: Fumigation or Disinfection, they are not the same.

We have seen people jostle for fumigation in the phase of the pandemic. Is this what we really need? Our Vision Zero Profiler  Ehi Iden doesn't think so. Fumigation is for vectors while disinfection is for micro organisms, it is as simple as that. You have the right to disinfect your offices or houses if you so desire but be careful not get swindled by pest control control agents in the name of disinfection. You might want to watch this video for more information and clarity on this.

UN Secretary-General Policy Brief: COVID-19 and the need for action on mental health

Key messages:

The problem:

• COVID-19 has the seeds of a major mental health crisis.
• The mental health and wellbeing of whole societies have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and are a priority to be addressed urgently.
• A long-term upsurge in the number and severity of mental health problems is likely.
• Specific populations groups are showing high degrees of COVID-19-related psychological distress.
• People caught in fragile humanitarian and conflict settings risk having their mental health needs overlooked entirely.
• Because of the size of the problem, the vast majority of mental health needs remain unaddressed.  The response is hampered by the lack of investment in mental health promotion, prevention and care before the pandemic.

Strategic shift (“theory of change”):

• The historic underinvestment in mental health needs to be redressed without delay to reduce immense suffering among hundreds of millions of people and mitigate long-term social and economic costs to society.

Public policy solution:

1. Apply a whole-of-society approach to promote, protect and care for mental health.
2. Ensure widespread availability of emergency mental health and psychosocial support.
3. Support recovery from COVID-19 by building mental health services for the future.

• Policy Brief - https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/un_policy_brief-covid_and_mental_health_final.pdf
• Video address by the UN Secretary General  - https://youtu.be/XLJlqcFYfeM

• Video address by WHO Director General - https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1260898292105449472?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
• UN press release - https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/05/1063882
• WHO press release - https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/14-05-2020-substantial-investment-needed-to-avert-mental-health-crisis
• WHO tweets:
  • https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1260916164143783937?s=20
  • https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1260902802957664258?s=20
  • https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1260898296094171136?s=20
  • https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1260898294663954433?s=20
  • https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1260898292105449472?s=20

IOSH have launched a series of webinars for occupational safety and health professionals on the Covid-19 situation.

The WHO information network for epidemics (EPI-WIN) publishes Corona Virus Updates in regular intervals, each time looking at a different risk or risk group. 

El Instituto Nacional de Calidad (Inacal) de Perú, organismo público adscrito al Ministerio de la Producción, aprobó la Guía para la limpieza y desinfección de manos y superficies, aplicable a nivel doméstico, como medida para prevenir la propagación de infecciones en los hogares del país. La Guía  promueve buenas prácticas para evitar la transmisión de enfermedades infecciosas, como el Coronavirus COVID-19 y proporciona recomendaciones para prevenir la propagación y supervivencia de microorganismos infecciosos.

El Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social de Colombia ha expedido varios documentos técnicos para la emergencia sanitaria generada por el Coronavirus COVID-19. Entre estos se incluye un documento con orientaciones para la reducción del riesgo de contagio de Covid-19 en actividades industriales en el sector minero y energético.

Le Service Public Fédéral Emploi, Travail et Concertation sociale (SPF) a publié plusieurs guides sur COVID-19 qui traitent les questions suivantes: Quelles mesures de prévention l’employeur peut-il prendre ? Et quelles sont les conséquences en matière de réglementation du travail ?

• Coronavirus : mesures de prévention et conséquences sur le plan du droit du travail
• Au travail en tout sécurité pendant la crise du Coronavirus : guide générique et guides sectoriels
• Mesures Covid-19 dans le domaine du droit de travail
• Questions et réponses coronavirus
• Suveillance de la santé pendant la crise du Coronavirus
• Chômage temporaire : la demande de reconnaissance comme entreprise en difficulté n’est plus nécessaire
• Comment doit agir l’employeur avec des travailleurs qui présentent des symptômes du coronavirus ou de la grippe ?
• Commerces, entreprises et services privés et publics qui sont nécessaires à la protection des besoins vitaux de la Nation et des besoins de la population
• Quelques conseils pour télétravailler efficacement tout en préservant son bien-être

Already facing exclusion in employment, persons with disabilities are more likely to lose their job and experience greater difficulties returning to work during recovery. In most countries social protection systems offer little support to persons with disabilities and their families with much less access to social insurance. Only 28% of persons with significant disabilities have access to disability benefits globally, and only 1% in low-income countries. The increased demand for unpaid care and domestic work in the context of the pandemic is deepening already existing inequalities, which may be exacerbated for women with disabilities.