Is your organization prepared for the "New Normal" in terms of HSE?

We are all reading about the "new normal", the future, and stabilized way of working when the COVID-19 pandemic ends. As Health, Safety & Environmental, Sustainability, Emergency, and Business Continuity professional, I'm thinking about WHAT the "New HSE Normal" will be.

The main challenge for all the organization and not only for the HSE team but Human Resouces, Communications, Legal Department, Facility Services (at least), is how to ensure compliance with legal requirements and internal standards reaching all the associates, no matter where they are working.

It's crucial to ensure the Mental Health of the organization, but is not easy to engage people with the related activities (e.g. yoga, meditation, stretching), and the example must start from the Top Management, something not always easy. It makes no sense to send nice communications about, for example, work and life balance if then the managers ask for overtime, contact employees outside working hours, or book meetings/calls during lunchtime.

It is key for HSE professionals to find the proper way to "enter" employee's homes, to ensure they have the right workplace set up with the right tools to ensure good ergonomic conditions, proper electrical safety, an emergency plan, and other applicable topics to prevent injuries and occupational illnesses, and also to engage them to have a balanced schedule permitting time for exercises, personal and familiar activities, etc. A face-to-face, honest, and open conversation between the HSE professionals and the employee is key to identify areas for improvement and then work with the proper colleagues in the corrective actions.

It is also important how to organize on-site HSE activities when the majority of the employees remain working from home. Of course, I'm not talking about industrial sites, as the presence of employees will remain high because is crucial to ensure production and operations. I'm especially concerned about emergency preparedness and response at e.g. commercial buildings, as not all the employees will go to the office all days at an established time. 

The new way of working will have an important impact mainly in the setup, scope, and organization of the emergency teams, but also in all the activities to be done for the engagement/participation of the employees in HSE-related topics. If in the "old times" to have a good assistance rate to the activities required a big effort (in order also to justify the investment), in the future, considering the (low) quantity of people present on the site, will require a lot more of time, energy and out-of-the-box thinking. 

Finally, I want to share a phrase from one of the best global HSE managers I had (if not the best, Keith): "The main role of the HSE professional is equal to that of the priest: preaching ... and it is something that should never be left".