In a post-pandemic workplace, Occupational health and safety is now considered a top priority due to employees being stretched to capacity from working from home and home-schooling children.
As there now becomes a shift in working practices, and because of how long some employees have been working from home, there is now a focus on the impact this has had on mental & physical health, and finding ways of supporting staff to encourage them back to the workplace.
According to a recent article by Forbes, Mental Health will be made a priority in 2021 owing to the occupational burnout experienced by many, closely followed by a noticeable shift in lifestyle changes due almost 71% of workers having gained weight during lockdown restrictions. These things will have an impact on self esteem, and therefore it is important to recognise that workers need supporting through these changes as lockdown restrictions start to lift and things go towards a ‘new normal.
Despite UK Coronavirus tests being rolled out at a faster rate than anticipated, it is highly reasonable to expect that employees may still be apprehensive about returning to work for health reasons, especially those on the most vulnerable list. With this in mind there needs to be a careful re-introduction for employees who have become used to the complete autonomy that the pandemic has offered for working schedules, and encouragement back to the workplace needs to be handled with care. Occupational Health & Safety services are now more in demand than ever before, so it’s really important that you have a return-to-work strategy that is respectful of all aspects of employee health & Safety needs.
What is Occupational Health & Safety?
Occupational Health & Safety is a multi-disciplinary approach to ensuring people are safe and healthy at work. Both internal and external occupational health & Safety services ensure that employees are ready to return to work after long periods away from the workplace, which makes these services invaluable in providing support and guidance to UK businesses looking to migrate people from home to the office.
Learn more about our Occupational Health and Safety services here
