The health of workers and COVID-19.
The health of workers and COVID-19.
Fernando G. Benavides, senior researcher from CiSAL has published this article in the April issue of the ournal Archives for Occupational Risk Prevention.
There are many readings and many levels of analysis of this crisis, one of which is the questioning of the market (and its famous invisible hand) against the role of the State, as the last lifeline for society as a whole. Between both, State and Market, occupational health is modestly situated, whose mission is to protect the health of the people who work. An objective that must be implemented in companies, in accordance with at least a very detailed legal regulation and controlled by agencies capable of detecting and sanctioning violations.
That puts us in the hurricane's eye. Overwhelmed and bewildered, we witnessed an extraordinary situation that we were not prepared for. We had to remove from the school bag the "theological" virtues of temperance and strength in order to imagine and agree on ad hoc solutions, which then fell short or simply went wrong. We have once again realized that trial / error is the best way to move forward in the dark. And it has been, it should be mentioned, an opportunity for occupational health to take on an obvious leadership that belongs to companies and public institutions. Which translates to many companies participating in the Services on crisis committees, along with the director.
Epidemiological surveillance systems in occupational health are proving to be crucial instruments, both for the management of cases and contacts, as well as for the prediction of scenarios that allow governing the pandemic at its different levels.
There are many lessons we have learned as the pandemic progresses, but there are still many lessons we can learn.
In that sense, and when the pandemic curve seems to flatten, we must now think of the day after, and prepare ourselves for the tone to normal, which, as we already know, will be gradual.
The spread rate of the virus is partly a consequence of globalization, through the exchange of people and goods, but it has also been globalization, starting with China, that has enabled a rapid and effective response to the pandemic.
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