Workplace risk management in the context of the covid-19 pandemic

National Institute for Research and Development in Mine Safety and Protection to Explosion – INSEMEX, 32-34 G-ral Vasile Milea Street, Petrosani, Hunedoara, Romania

^* Andrada Denisa Băbuţ: andrada.babut@insemex.ro

Abstract

In March 2020, a pandemic was declared internationally, caused by a new coronavirus called COVID-19. With the advent of the COVID-19 virus and the declaration of the pandemic, safety and distancing measures have been instituted, which we cannot say we are used to and which we easily accept, but which are necessary to combat the spread of the virus. We also cannot deny that this pandemic has affected and continues to affect our mental health, triggering a certain state of anxiety and with it the lowering of our immune system, which makes us more vulnerable to disease. Paradoxically, mental health is one of the first things that helps us to resist and survive the crisis, which is why it is important to provide employees with protection to ensure the necessary mental comfort at work.

In this context, this paper synthesizes the basic principles and best practices of psychosocial risk assessment, highlighting how hazard identification and risk management strategies should be based on the involvement of all stakeholders in combating anxiety at workplace.