Keeping Employees Safe In The Physical And Virtual Workplace

To help businesses with the planning and risk management process to keep employees safe in the workplace, Healix International has added two new COVID-19 related modules to its expanding e-learning platform.

Lockdown has had a detrimental effect on many people which may make them nervous about coming into the workplace. New research by psychologists at the University of Bath, suggests that 1 in 4 people have significantly elevated anxiety and depression, exacerbated by lockdown and isolation. The Healix International modules aim to help businesses reassure employees who are considering returning to work by providing them with the information they need to keep themselves and their colleagues safe, both physically and mentally, and in the real and virtual workplace.

The COVID-19 – A Guide to Workplace Protection course is designed to help employees protect themselves and their colleagues from contracting COVID-19 in the physical workplace. It includes information and advice on topics such as what is COVID-19, the symptoms and risks, how it is spread and risk management.

“The shift to returning to the workplace is a momentous one and businesses need to be aware that staff who have underlying health conditions may be particularly anxious; the biggest hurdle that employers need to overcome is how to instil confidence in their employees and protect their wellbeing,” explains Charlie Butcher, Commercial Director from Healix. “To help address this, this course also covers COVID-19 in the workplace and looking out for signs of COVID-19 related anxiety in colleagues.

“Employers do have a duty of care to their employees to safeguard their health and wellbeing, so it is vital they consult with their employees to understand their fears about returning to work, and to adhere to occupational safety measures to ensure the workplace is safe”.

The second course focuses on keeping employees safe in the virtual workplace. While working remotely for staff when overseas is commonplace, it’s increasingly become the norm for office based staff too. However, such a shift exposes vulnerabilities and can create challenges for organisations, particularly in relation to cyber security and data protection.

With cyber-criminals quick to take advantage of any lapses in security, Healix’s Managing Cyber Security for Remote Workers course helps staff identify cyber risks in order to prevent malicious attacks, invasions of privacy and fraud, wherever they are based,

The course includes why is cyber security important, who poses an online threat and the main cyber risks associated with remote working. Also included are tips to practice good cyber security, what ‘phishing’ is and how to identify a phishing attempt.

Both modules are broken down into bite sized lessons with quick knowledge checks at the end of each section and are accessed through a user-friendly portal which can be white labelled.

“While lockdown is relaxing in the UK and many other countries, there is still the potential for regional restrictions”, added Charlie Butcher. “It is therefore critical businesses maintain support for their workforce’s physical and mental health and regularly review flexible and remote working practices. In these ever-changing times in which we are living, businesses need to have the capability to move safely from one scenario to another.”