AS Covid-19 vaccines continue to arrive in the country, more people are getting vaccinated and protected from Covid-19. New Covid-19 infections per day, reproduction rate, Average Daily Attack Rate (ADAR), are showing promising numbers.
The economy is also starting to recover, albeit slowly, but many business owners are optimistic as workers return to their jobs. The growing concern, however, is—are companies ready to get them back? Are there sufficient health protection programs in place that will guarantee their protection in the workplace? Are there industries still at risk?
During the recent TV UP webinar titled “Work Bubbles: Ligtas ba sa Covid-19 ang ating mga Workers?” Dr. Joselito Gapas, Head of Occupational Health of First Philippine Holdings (FPH) Corporation, thought earlier on that the virus would simply die down if draconian control measures were put into place, probably with an occasional spike, but everything will eventually go back to normal.
Different outcome
Unfortunately, Gapas said, the outbreak turned out differently. There were multiple spikes and surges brought about by the virus variants, inadequate public health measures and delay in vaccine acquisition, including vaccine inequity in low- and middle-income countries.
That is why at FPH, Gapas said they came up with a “Covid-19 safety bubble” strategy that involved four key aspects of control and protection in areas they could focus on—the workplace, the home, the community, and travel to and from work.
In the workplace, Gapas said they protected their workers and business partners, which they expanded to include the home. “We protected the home since workers, once infected at home, can bring the virus to the workplace, or if workers are not protected, they can bring the virus home and infect the household. They should also be protected while they’re moving about in the community.”
Lastly, he said the workers will travel going to and from work. They need to be protected as well while traveling in between, Gapas said.
Protective “bubbles”
At FPH, they also implemented protective, preventive and reactive “bubbles” to reduce the risk of Covid-19. The “safety bubble,” Gapas explained, is a set of engineering, administrative, personal protection, and other measures meant to reduce the risk of people being exposed to Covid-19 and to prevent or minimize its spread.
They know, however, that this is not perfect so they also came up with “recovery” measures in when infections occur whether at work or at home, how to help workers recover and return to their normal lives.
Gapas said the measures were meant to prevent “seeding” or prevent the virus from entering the bubble, prevent “spread” or prevent the virus from infecting other people, and “recover” to help the infected recover from the infection and save lives.
As a company with diverse business interests, Gapas knows that there can never be a “one size fits all” strategy as each company within FPH has different cultures, business processes and operations and levels of intellect among workers. That is why prior to implementing the program, all companies were required to conduct “risk assessment” before developing a Covid-19 risk management program. “They have to know their risk so that we can properly develop a program that is appropriate for that risk since the companies have different risk profiles.”
Inventory
The companies were also asked to do an inventory of their available resources, location, business operations, including worker and family profiles. As a result of the inventory, each company developed their own “fit for purpose” and cost-effective Covid-19 risk protocol.
Overall, the strategy involved developing various components like protecting the workplace, protecting the home, provision of support services (Covid-19 hotline, teleconsultation, counseling on emotional wellbeing, mental health access facility), communication and engagement because they believe that “when people are informed properly, they can decide rationally.” Last is vaccination where they vaccinated employees, business partners and household members via their “Vac2Normal” program, which they planned as early as October 2020.
As of October 26, 2021, Gapas said 95.9 percent of their employees have already been vaccinated (77.4 percent are fully vaccinated, 18.5 percent got their first dose), with minimal vaccine hesitancy due to intensive education campaign. “Right now, we’re just awaiting clearance from the Department of Health to proceed with adolescent (12-17 years old) vaccination and booster shots for adults.”
For now, Gapas said the company is looking at future Covid-19 scenarios and strategies. “We believe the crisis is not close to being resolved but will simply move on to a new phase.”