Page 77 - O'Kelly Sutton Employee Handbook June 23 Revision 2 2020
P. 77

SECTION 7: PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCIES

              Return to work & Response Plan

              7.1  Introduction
              This plan is designed to help O’Kelly Sutton minimize the risk that PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCIES pose
              to  the  health  and  safety  of  our  employees,  the  stability  of  business  operations,  and  the  financial
              performance  in  the  weeks  and  months  following  any  alert.  It  is  intended  to  provide  the  basic
              information required in preparing a continuity plan to mitigate the potential effects of PUBLIC HEALTH
              EMERGENCIES in our company.

              In developing our plan, we are aware that there is no way to predict what may happen in the weeks
              and months after a PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCIES is declared.  Our plan includes, in as far as possible,
              all  the  information  currently  available,  and  includes  the  World  Health  Organisation’s  advice  that
              PUBLIC  HEALTH  EMERGENCIES  are  an  immediate  and  very  real  risk  to  human  health  for  the
              foreseeable future until vaccines or other measures are developed.

              As with any risk that threatens the viability of our company’s business operations, continuity planning
              is  critical.  In  addition  to  the  threat  to  human  health,  the  economic  impacts  of  Public  Health
              Emergencies including absenteeism in the workplace, or the possible impacts to supply-chain links in
              addition to travel disruptions may be significant and widespread for the foreseeable future of the
              emergency.

              O’Kelly Sutton will take immediate steps to develop continuity plans that protect employees and to
              minimize possible disruptions to our customers, our local communities, and  the economy. We are
              aware that while our decisions and actions cannot stop Public Health Emergency, however proper
              preparation may reduce its impact on our employees, our customers, our local communities, and the
              economy.
              This  plan  provides  need-to-know  information  from  the  Health  Service  Executive,  HSE  website
              https://www2.hse.ie/coronavirus/ (for Pandemics. Please use this link as the foundation to develop
              your understanding of Public Health Emergencies). The Health Service Executive have many links with
              information, and we would ask all employees to inform themselves by utilize these links. In addition
              to these links, the Health and Safety Authority’s website https://www.hsa.ie/eng/topics/covid-19/ (As
              an  example  provides  information  to  assist  our  understanding  of  the  impact  of  Public  Health
              Emergencies in the workplace) links is also available to everyone. We would ask all employees to use
              these resources and familiarise themselves with this information, which demonstrates the need for
              individual responsibilities during PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCIES.


              7.2     Scope of the plan
              This Return to Work & Response Plan covers all employees of O’Kelly Sutton.

              7.3     Communication
              Strong communication and a shared collaborative approach is essential for our company to protect
              each other, against the spread of viruses in the workplace when a Public Health Emergency is declared.
              In  providing  these  links  to  the  HSE  and  HSA web sites,  it  is  with  the  intention  of  promoting open
              communications with our employees, to include up to date information essential in preventing the
              spread of viruses in the workplace.  This is essential so that we can respond to the planned removal of
              restrictions if imposed by the Irish Government in the interest of public health due to any potential
              threats to Public Health.

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