During the event organized by the Research Group on Human Body Movement and Quality of Life, the panelists concluded that the accompaniment of the worker should be strengthened, evaluating the place at home where they are carrying out their work, providing them with tele-orientation services and tools so that they take on properly this abrupt change.

 

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With the participation of Specialists in Labor Law and Occupational Health, the University of Cauca, through the Research Group on Human Body Movement and Quality of Life attached to the Department of Physiotherapy, carried out the online discussion: Occupational risks at COVID - 19, Shared responsibilities.

 

Panelists reiterated that this pandemic situation was something that no one expected. Based on this, they expressed their appreciation of the regulatory measures and political responses that the National Government has given regarding occupational risks in the face of the current situation.

 

The lawyer and university professor Belisario Velázquez Pinilla, a benchmark in occupational risks in Colombia, indicates "that this changes our life dynamics, and with it, it will change the way we do things." In this order of ideas, he asked several questions: “How are we going to handle work relationships? How are we going to manage the Management, Safety and Health System at Work? What are we going to do to preserve the health and integrity of our collaborators in organizations? How will companies and people who cannot telework to support their income do it? ”

 

In the case of those who work in the health area, the doctor Diego Illera Rivera reiterates that this disease is of occupational origin for professionals and collaborators in the sector who acquire it in the course of their work.

 

On the subject, Engineer Felipe Campo of the Positive ARL emphasizes that "any employee who is proven to have acquired COVID 19 on the occasion of his work, will be recognized for the economic benefits of the case."

 

Panelists draw attention to the fact that, in Colombia, a legal distinction must be made between "teleworking" and what most employees are doing from home today, which corresponds to the "work at home" concept. With this in mind, companies and ARL Occupational Risk Administrators are invited to holistically analyze what are the occupational risk factors to which the employee is exposed when performing, at this time of pandemic, their work at home.

 

In fact, the possibility of presenting in workers, musculoskeletal disorders and psychosocial diseases is already being considered. The psychologist Luana Polo of the COVID Positiva Group reiterated that "a sick country cannot be productive; hence the reflection on the Government and on us as a society is to do our part to get out of the situation we are facing".

 

“According to the feedback received by the Positive ARL, emerging risks are being presented to employees, such as work overload, techno-anxieties due to the lack of digital competence, and ambiguous communication between workers and managers when delegating and manage tasks ”, he warns.

 

According to psychologist Martha Gómez, the workers are suffering anguish and fear, which is why they require accompaniment. Beyond checking to see if the worker in its home is complying with their work schedule and tasks, there must be a sincere desire to know how they are mentally and physically.

 

The panelists point out that the accompaniment of the worker must be strengthened, evaluating the place at home where he is carrying out his work today, providing tele-orientation services and tools so that they can adequately assume this abrupt change that the pandemic situation has led us to. The final recommendation of the discussion called the organizations to prepare the return to work protocol. Companies and entities must begin to design their induction, reinduction and readaptation processes to work, which will be applied once this time of compulsory social isolation ends.

 

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Faculty of Health Sciences

Email: fsalud@unicauca.edu.co