1. Why is Health and Safety so important at the workplace? 

Health and Safety is important because it protects the wellbeing of employers, employees, visitors and customers. Looking after Health and Safety makes good business sense. Workplaces that neglect health and safety risk prosecution, may lose staff, and may increase costs and reduce profitability.

2. How do you think the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting Belgravia workplaces? 

We are living in uncertain times, the like of which we have never seen before. This period of uncertainty has many feeling anxious and possibly even depressed. Our people are either not currently working or working from home, not knowing when things will get back to normal. Just know that things will get back to normal, we don’t know when, but they will. Stay strong everyone.

 3. When facilities are allowed to re-open, what are some ways that teams can reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19? 

We have developed a suite of resources to assist facilities through the pandemic. Click here to access the B-Connected COVID-19 page. Key messages that both Government and Belgravia have developed to assist in risk reduction include:

• Wash your hands frequently with soap and water for 20 seconds or use alcohol-based hand sanitiser
• Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth to prevent infections entering your body
• Cover your cough and sneeze with your bent elbow or tissue. Dispose of tissue immediately and wash hands
• Maintain social distancing: At least 1.5m from someone coughing or sneezing
• Clean surfaces regularly with antibacterial wipes or disinfectant
• If you feel unwell do not attend work. Seek medical care early

4. What is the Workplace Health and Safety audit and do we need to audit during the pandemic? 

The Workplace Health and Safety audit is our 6-monthly facility safety check that asks a series of safety questions for facility staff to answer to ensure safety is living and breathing on site. All facilities usually audit during our April and October Safety Months; however the pandemic has thrown a spanner in the works and limited our ability to audit this April.

The good news is that things are changing for the better in the WHS auditing space, with a new auditing platform in development and also a shorter more streamlined audit to be completed during the pandemic.  

5. What plans are in place from the Belgravia Workplace Health and Safety Department for the remainder of 2020? 

Our main planning focus that is at the forefront of our mind will be strategies around steering us safely through this pandemic. Part of this includes ensuring we stay connected with all of our staff and continue to support them during this difficult time and also ensuring that our sites are well prepared for opening with sound cleaning and reporting processes in place to manage COVID-19 related issues. We also have a very exciting Learning Management System in development, incorporating five new WHS modules, which will be accessible to all staff this year.

 6. What can Belgravia employees do to improve workplace health and safety at their workplace? 

One of the key things people can do during this pandemic is to respect and adhere to all of the Government initiatives towards social distancing and personal hygiene. This is really important to limit the spread which will in turn save lives. Aside from this, everyone has a duty to report all risks and hazards that they come across directly to management. Being positive towards safety and having safety conversations are all really simple yet effective strategies that over time will improve our organisation’s safety culture, making Belgravia a better and safer place to work for everyone.