Open AccessUnderstanding uptake of prevention and mitigation of COVID-19 at work actions in Iran
Author(s) -
Vahid Gharibi,
Rosanna Cousins,
Mehdi Jahangiri,
Mina Bargar
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
work
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.5
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1875-9270
pISSN - 1051-9815
DOI - 10.3233/wor-205303
Subject(s) - pandemic , work (physics) , covid-19 , likert scale , business , checklist , personal protective equipment , hazard , risk management , scale (ratio) , control (management) , health care , public relations , occupational safety and health , psychology , medicine , political science , economic growth , engineering , management , disease , economics , geography , cognitive psychology , chemistry , pathology , developmental psychology , mechanical engineering , cartography , organic chemistry , finance , infectious disease (medical specialty)
BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has required organizations to make changes to ways of working to prevent and mitigate COVID-19 in employees. OBJECTIVE: To assess the workplace response to COVID-19 in Iran. METHODS: 255 organizations completed a two-part survey. Part 1 collected data describing the business; part 2 comprised the International Labor Organization (ILO) 30-item Prevention and Mitigation of COVID-19 at Work Actions Checklist. A four-point Likert scale was used to score each item according to whether preventative measures had been actioned. RESULTS: We found a dichotomy of commitment to managing COVID-19 at work. 42.5%of organizations had fully implemented the ILO recommended preventative actions, and 45.6%workplaces had not implemented any. Large organizations had significantly more preventative actions than SMEs; the healthcare sector had significantly better COVID-19 mitigation measures in place than construction projects; and organizations with a health and safety management system had significantly more prevention actions in place. CONCLUSIONS: ILO provided a good framework to support risk assessment of COVID-19, however only half the organizations were undertaking the necessary biological hazard control actions to prevent COVID-19 at work. There remains a need to understand the inaction of organizations who do not risk assess despite being in a pandemic.