After lockdown, how do employers prepare for a safe return to work? [Opinion]

The South African government has announced the implementation of a risk-adjusted strategy in easing the nationwide lockdown.

This strategy entails the use of a system of alert levels applicable nationally and provincially. The alert levels are as follows:

Nationally, on Friday, 1 May, South Africa will move from its current position at level 5 to level 4.

This means that all essential services will be able to continue operating together with the following additional sectors: food retail stores will be permitted to sell full line of products, agriculture, forestry, mining, financial and professional services, postal and telecommunications services, information technology services and formal waste recycling services.

Transport restrictions will largely be lifted (subject to limitations on vehicle capacity and hygiene requirements). No inter-provincial movement of people will be allowed except under exceptional circumstances.

However, this does not necessarily mean that employers and employees from the sectors listed above will be able to resume operations and return to work after the lockdown.

This will depend on the alert level assigned to each province. The alert level per province will be determined with reference to the rate of infection and the health system’s capacity to handle the virus at that particular point in time.

The alert levels for each province are still to be announced.

In determining the alert levels, government will take three main criteria into account:

1. Risk of transmission
2. Expected impact on the sector of a continued lockdown
3. Value of the sector to the economy

The strategy also requires that the industries that return to work first should have an acceptably low transmission risk, be critical to the value of the economy and be under severe economic stress.

Therefore, for employers who have a multi-provincial footprint, they may find that they may only be able to operate in a certain province(s) depending on risk levels across the provinces.

With the above in mind, it is clear that there will be a gradual and phased approach to reopening economic activity and, after 1 May, only certain categories of employers will be permitted to resume operations under specific conditions.

The government will shortly announce specific health and safety protocols that each employer will need to follow in order to protect employees.

In planning for a safe return to work, employers who are able to resume operations after 1 May must take the below considerations into account.

Most employers have already established in-house Covid-19 risk management committees. It is these committees that should pay special attention to the considerations listed below.

*Dhevarsha Ramjettan, Kirsten Eiser, Shane Johnson, Bianca Viljoen, Zipho Tile from Webber Wentzel also contributed to this article

Featured image:Alexandra_Koch via Pixabay