E-Coordina, interview Ana Belen Valderas, Technician occupational risk prevention

E-coordina publishes a series of interviews with the heads of prevention of some companies in the country, which reflect the experience of these companies when facing the Prevention of Labor Risks in times of Pandemic.

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We lived something that we did not even imagine would touch us. Socially, healthily, economically... It is a milestone, a before and after. But it will undoubtedly also be so in the field of ORP, of health and safety at work. In this sense, how are you living these moments in your company? How has it changed you?

- In this sense, being a food company, many of the measures that companies are taking were already carried out, such as cleaning, the use of masks or gloves in certain areas.

However, cleaning has increased in common areas and new cleaning processes are being carried out with different products. The use of masks, which were habitual in the workrooms, has been extended to all areas, both in production and in offices, and there has been limited capacity in common areas such as the dining room or changing rooms...

This is a short question, but the answer can be very broad. In your frame, how will the after be, in fact as it is being?

- It is clear that this situation will mark a before and after for us, we have learned a lot and we believe that many of the measures implemented have come to stay with us and improve.

We have learned that we can communicate by different means without having to be present (for example, via Teams), that hygiene measures are fundamental and necessary to avoid contagion, that wearing a mask has become a necessity that workers demand and not an obligation as could be seen before the arrival of the pandemic.

What measures do you think should be taken in the area of Prevention?

- In the area of prevention, mandatory measures have been implemented such as the distance between people of 2 meters, mandatory use of masks in all areas, cleaning of common tools that are indispensable to share after use (such as wheelbarrow wheels), temperature control of users... 

Many improvement works carried out by the contractors were stopped in order to prevent outside personnel from accessing our facilities, as well as visits from suppliers. However, some of the measures such as the latter mentioned will be de-escalated and therefore we remain constantly attentive to the new measures that are being approved by the state.

 In this sense, what role will the Coordination of Business Activities play?  

- The same measures have also been implemented for the workers of the CAE, since, in the end, they are workers and we welcome them as our own with the same treatment and the same rules. For this reason, we have created a new document "COVID protocol" on the e-coordina platform so that all our subcontractors are aware of the regulations implemented in OKIN and know the established protocols before they come.

Is it going to be difficult to adapt to the new situation. In the work centres, in the relationship with your workers or those of your contracts? What difficulties are we going to encounter?

- We have already gone through the adaptation stage, but it was more the initial uncertainty of how the virus would advance and how it would affect us. But from the beginning we created a committee to be able to take measures in this direction and we are proud of how all the workers have accepted it. 

Masks, temperature controls, separations..., how we deal with all this, is it feasible, is it necessary, should it be mandatory?

- As for PPE, such as masks, they should be mandatory when we are less than 2 meters away or when we are in small common spaces such as meetings where the environment may become charged and the virus may spread among us. 

Fever is one of the symptoms of the virus, which we can measure and thus detect if the person may be transmitting the virus, so in OKIN we have taken as a mandatory measure the control of the temperature of users.

Your vision of the future as a professional Will we learn from what happened, will we come out of it stronger?

- Everything that happens, whether for good or bad, serves to learn and prevent future pandemics or similar situations. It is like a project that came to us without warning and that we had to face with the means that we had at our disposal. I am proud of the team we have in OKIN because we all sail together with the same goal in mind when it comes to the current situation. This is to avoid the contagion and spread of the virus.

 

Go watch the full interview