The name that is striking fears in the hearts of all people right now can be unanimously agreed upon, and that is nothing other than COVID-19 or the novel Coronavirus. This form of the virus had been unknown to humanity and medical science to date and hence the methods and the arsenal to fight it are still unknown or highly unreliable. Therefore precautionary methods work best which would be effective in controlling the spread of the virus amongst the rest of the unaffected population.
Detrimental effects of the COVID-19 :
The COVID-19 virus is a new one that has suddenly appeared on the face of the earth. But one thing has been surely detected about this virus. The most important characteristic of the novel Coronavirus is that it spreads through respiratory droplets from the affected person and is highly contagious. Human to human interaction is potent enough to cause its spread.
Another important characteristic of the COVID-19 is that most people tend to remain unaware that they have already been affected by the virus. It is only after a resting phase of around 14 to 27 days, that the virus starts affecting the respiratory system of the individual extremely fast and causes the respiratory decline at a high rate. These adverse conditions are often fatal and have already claimed a huge population in Europe, the Americas, China, and Southeast Asia.
Though it has been said that youths and people with a stronger immunity system are prone to withstand the harmful effects of the virus and can get cured. It is most detrimental for the geriatric population and the infants as their immunity system is frail or under-developed to fight against the novel Coronavirus.
Why can factories be the potential places which help in the proliferation of the COVID-19 :
Factories are such workplaces that employ a multitude of staff. Right from the personnel who belong to the authorities of the factory, to the ground staff to the people who work in the manufacturing and production units to various other sections of employees; factories house a bustling workforce.
Since it has been established that the contagiousness of the novel Coronavirus can be attributed to interpersonal and social interactions, therefore it is essential that those should be stopped and people should be quarantined to stop its spread and confine the virus to a certain region and finally exterminate it.
This being said, factories are not such places where it is possible to stop interactions amongst the employees, staff, and employers. It is not possible to quarantine people and still get the work done. Thus factories are workplaces that pose an immense threat for the spread of the novel Coronavirus. A person who is affected might not know that he is affected and through the ejection of his respiratory droplets, another person in close proximity might get affected. The novel Coronavirus is particularly dangerous because if it gets deposited on any inanimate or non-living surface, it can stay stationed there without losing its power to infect people.
Measures that the factory authorities should take to protect their workers from the Coronavirus epidemic :
Though it is quite possible for the topmost authoritative personnel of a factory to stay in a space that is clean and disinfected, the same is totally uncommon for the workers. Workers in a factory mostly work in dirty, dusty and unhygienic conditions. Therefore certain measures should be taken to protect the workers from the outbreak of the disease.
- An investment in awareness, sanitization, and development of the personal hygiene of the employees and workers is extremely important. Though the initial investment might seem lofty, it would mean that the factory work is undeterred and no employee is lost. Such situations would cause the factories to incur huge additional expenses so the initial investment is better to start dealing with the novel Coronavirus endemic.
- The factory authorities should create sufficient awareness among the workers. The workers should be always equipped with protective respiratory gears like masks which would prevent the novel Coronavirus pathogen from spreading from one person to another.
- Maintenance of personal hygiene is a matter of extreme importance. Apart from the use of potent sanitizers like 70% concentrated alcohol or dilute bleaching agents, the workers should use other strong sanitizers from time to time. This would eliminate the risk of being affected by the virus. Care should be taken to not touch the face or nose or the mouth with dirty hands as this could cause an easy pathway for the novel Coronavirus to travel to the respiratory systems of those workers.
- Apart from these, each area of the factory should be cleaned and disinfected at regular intervals. Cleaning refers to the removal of dirt, dust and objectionable objects that adhere to various surfaces. Disinfection after cleaning operations results in the efficient termination of microbes, germs, and disease-causing agents.
Conclusions :
To prevent the spread of the COVID-19 endemic, factory officials, as well as the staff, should take equal responsibilities. Any negligence on their parts could aggravate the situation.
