What a whirlwind the last few months have been!
As I sit here reviewing the Covid-19 article I had originally written for this blog (which wasn’t published due to other priorities during lockdown), I’m blown away by how much has changed.
My original article had been written in March at a time when we were only just beginning to consider introducing protocols such as avoiding shaking hands and increasing cleaning measures in our office. I certainly couldn’t have predicted how quickly things would escalate.
From Monday March 23rd our roles at OSHbox changed overnight from general health and safety consultants to full-time Covid-19 safety advisors. Every other day we were touching base with every OSHbox client, sending out resources for mental health, checklists for working from home, updates from WorkSafe, supplies of PPE and signage, and any other helpful information we could get our hands on. Supporting the thousands of small to medium businesses we work with was our biggest priority, and reflecting back on this, I can proudly say it is one of our biggest achievements.
Almost immediately following lockdown we began assisting clients who were setting up to work as essential services during Level 4, in some cases this meant writing Covid-19 health and safety policies for approval in primary industries, in others it was acting as a sounding board for concerned Employers and anxious Employees. During this time we also correctly predicted that a move to Level 3 was going to mean strict health and safety protocols for any businesses planning to reopen, so we began putting together our Covid-19 documented safety plans.
During Levels 4-2, over 1400 businesses implemented our Back-to Business Safety Plans and I was blown away by how quickly and efficiently our clients of all types and sizes jumped onboard with the changes required to reopen and operate during this time, and I predict many of these will changes will continue to remain in place indefinitely.
Things have certainly changed since writing my original article in March, but we feel privileged to have played a role in supporting clients during the last few months and remain committed to providing that support as we all work to rebuild together.
