Evolving COVID safety challenges employers

[...]employers scrambled to find hand sanitizers and signage in an effort to improve workplace safety, and then started implementing barriers such as plexiglass dividers and mask-wearing policies. [...]we were lucky not to have to face something as contagious as the Delta from the beginning; we had...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCanadian HR Reporter Vol. 34; no. 9; pp. 1 - 4
Main Author Dobson, Sarah
Format Trade Publication Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Toronto HAB Press Limited 01.11.2021
Subjects
Aerosols
Bus drivers
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Disease transmission
Disinfection & disinfectants
Employers
Grocery stores
Human resource management
Humidity
Infectious diseases
Masks
Pandemics
Proteins
Ventilation
Viruses
Workers
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Summary:[...]employers scrambled to find hand sanitizers and signage in an effort to improve workplace safety, and then started implementing barriers such as plexiglass dividers and mask-wearing policies. [...]we were lucky not to have to face something as contagious as the Delta from the beginning; we had a little bit of a chance. [...]there's a whole bunch of new opportunities to make some changes, says Colin Furness, assistant professor at the Institute for Health Policy Management and Evaluation, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, at the University of Toronto. "There's no question that's a concern." Since the airborne transfer of exhaled aerosol droplets is now understood to be the primary mode of COVID-19 transmission, more emphasis should be placed on improving ventilation and filtration and encouraging mask use, rather than deep cleaning surfaces, installing cough or sneeze barriers, or enforcing strict distancing beyond three feet, says Martin Bazant, professor of chemical engineering and mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. [...]wearing a mask will protect you considerably against smaller aerosols because the self-rating capacity of a mask is surprisingly good, even down to a few microns."
ISSN:0838-228X