Infrastructure News: Yearbook 2022

Page 76

Yearbook 2022

MANAGEMENT

N

ew Zealand is well-prepared for an Omicron outbreak, with high vaccination levels, boosters and childhood vaccination now available, and public health measures in force through the COVID-19 Protection Framework. These measures will help slow the initial spread of Omicron. However, it is important to prepare for potential workforce shortages, due to staff being sick or needing to self-isolate, and supply chain issues. There are steps you can take to protect your staff and customers against Omicron. Think about how you would respond when there are cases of Omicron in the community. It will save time, stress, and resources in the long run. A clear plan will help lessen the impact as you focus on operating in a safe way. Understand the COVID-19 Protection Framework and how it affects your business. Follow all the rules, including physical distancing, face coverings, displaying NZ Covid Tracer posters and encouraging people to scan or sign in and checking and verifying My Vaccine Passes, where required. To ensure that sufficient workers are available to maintain critical infrastructure and supply chains throughout the Omicron outbreak, a critical workforce registration system will prioritise allocation of Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) to businesses. It will provide for return-to-work

76 safetynews.co.nz

Get ready for a new future

Plans to support critical infrastructure and supply chains get into top gear – see this link for full details

testing for asymptomatic close contacts who would otherwise be required to self-isolate. Government agencies will proactively engage with key businesses in their sectors to ensure that critical workforces have been identified and registered, and that there are sufficient supplies of RATs for those workers when needed. Beyond this, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) will develop an online portal – similar to that used for the Business Travel Registration system – to allow individual business to apply for critical worker status. The Critical Services Register will hold a database of the critical workforce by sector and location. This information will be used by the Ministry of Health

(MOH) to allocate RATs depending on supply and need, including the geographical spread of any outbreak. Rapid Antigen Testing A critical worker is identified by their employer as a role within a critical industry as broadly defined by government that requires a person with particular skills who is required to undertake their role in person at the workplace and is in a role that must continue to be performed to either prevent an immediate risk of death or serious injury to a person or animal, or prevent serious harm (social, economic or physical) to significant numbers in the community This “test to return” approach means that critical workers who are close contacts will be able to return

to work early, provided they return a negative RAT every day that they are at work throughout their required isolation period, or as otherwise appropriate to their work setting. They will only be able to go to work, not anywhere else – this protocol allows for return to work only. It does not mean that it ends isolation periods early. The protocol includes: • Daily symptom checks, and a daily negative RAT result, prior to commencing work. • Strict use of a medical mask, donned before entry to the workplace, changed as needed during the day and strictly complying with any infection prevention and control protocols at work.


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Mental health when working from home

3min
page 79

Bastion NZ launch industrial glove range

1min
pages 90-92

Chemical safety relies on meaningful cooperation

3min
pages 88-89

Support for mentally healthy workplaces

2min
page 78

Critical infrastructure and supply chain support

4min
pages 76-77

Re-programming muscle memory

6min
pages 68-69

Industry leader in soft fall protection on construction sites

2min
pages 72-73

No better investment than chemical safety training

3min
page 67

Eight key themes shaping our future cities

3min
pages 52-55

Kiwi innovation leading the way in concrete slab insulation

2min
page 62

End year wrap-up reveals clues for 2022 property market

4min
pages 60-61

Facilities management with personal service

1min
pages 37-39

Rising from the Antarctic, a climate alarm

14min
pages 28-34

Industrial sector – big strides, small footprints

3min
pages 44-47

Biofuel mandate – lower emissions or just gher fuel prices?

3min
pages 35-36

Is it better to litigate or deviate to alternatives?

21min
pages 14-21

Treescape weathers the storm

2min
page 3

AC Filter – an engineered solution protecting worker health

1min
pages 26-27

Multi-purpose, safer, faster telehandlers increase productivity

3min
pages 8-9

Water sector a key player in managing climate change

3min
pages 24-25

Three ideas for building the future cities we need

4min
pages 10-13

Timely advice for Three-Waters investment management

4min
pages 22-23

Beware the Ides of March

10min
pages 4-7
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