Health and safety officers play a critical role in keeping hospitals safe. Tiyese Jeranji spoke to Jan Engelbrecht, a health and safety officer at Groote Schuur Hospital where 69 staff members have tested positive for Covid-19
spoke to Jan Engelbrecht, a health and safety officer at Groote Schuur Hospital where 69 staff members have tested positive for Covid-19.
Covid-19 does not only have a negative effect on the health of the patients and our staff that are infected, but it also creates a lot of fear and uncertainties among our employees.“However, the risk of getting infected will always be there and to live with that fear of getting infected will always be very stressful. I have thus changed my mindset to ensure that I am ready to fight the virus if I get infected,” he says.
“This is all part of the preparations the hospital is taking for Covid-19 cases. Several employees from a number of departments were all involved in these decisions,” he says, adding that Covid-19 is new for everyone so things are being learnt and changed as the pandemic progresses.“Covid-19 does not only have a negative effect on the health of the patients and our staff that are infected, but it also creates a lot of fear and uncertainties among our employees.
He stresses the need for everyone to do their part. It is the responsibility of every area, ward and clinic manager to identify the health and safety risks where they work, he says.“Once this is done, the manager must try to eliminate or mitigate the unacceptable risk by implementing engineering and administrative control measures. If it is not reasonably practical to eliminate the risk or to mitigate it to an acceptable level, the manager can then issue PPE as a last option.
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