Keep the noise down.....focus on FACTS

The Irish Potato famine in 1865 is recognised as one of the first "mass media" events in history. This is because of the sheer number of letters going back and forth between people in Ireland and their loved ones who had moved to lands of opportunity.
 
In 2020, the shift from letter writing to Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook, not to mention newspaper and television, ensures there is almost no escape from the Covid "noise". Building confidence in what works has to be based on fact. Drawing the parallel with noise-induced hearing loss, we know that noise at 90dB damages our hearing. Can too much information stop us hearing the messages that save lives?
 
RoSPA, as ever, has avoided talking about "stopping" people from doing things and asked organisations to PAUSE:
 
Prioritise your people
Assess the risk of exposure to COVID-19 but don’t forget the other hazards and risks in your business
Update your risk management plan
Support those with depleted mental health…and support your people to speak up
Evaluate the impact of the changes you have made…are they being adhered to?
 
Set against the World Health Organisation's guidance on instructions to follow, behaviours to adopt and information to share, in Scotland this has been distilled into the following FACTS:
 
Face coverings in enclosed spaces
Avoid crowded places
Clean hands and surfaces
Two-metre distancing
Self-isolate and get tested if you have symptoms.
 
These few words aim to keep the R value down and explain how we can each play our part.
 
The noise associated with 2020 will not abate. However the importance of keeping the world’s population listening to the facts, which can minimise their fears, should remain our priority.

Dr Karen McDonnell

RoSPA's occupational safety and health adviser

Planning to reopen your work place? RoSPA can help with a Covid-19 Back-to-Work Review

---