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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 25 S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 2 0 F O C U S H E A L T H C A R E / W E L L N E S S SUCCESSFULLY REDUCING INJURIES AND LOWERING COSTS SINCE 1993. Each day about 2,000 U.S. workers sustain a job-related eye injury that requires medical treatment. About 90 percent can be avoided with proper safety eyewear. For more information about eye safety: www.memic.com/eyesafety. In terms of when we can expect things to resolve, that is completely unknown. — Angela Fileccia Manager, Northern Light Healthy Life Resource Program Detailed steps Open communication in the workplace is essential, Mills says. She cites her own role as department head as an example. She's continued to go to the office, but her nonclinical staffers have been work- ing from home. Now she's bringing back 25% at a time on a rotating basis. On a Zoom call, staffers asked how to plan for safely getting from home to office, and for operating in the office. Mills had developed her own routine, so she described details in an email. "I walked through the steps I take every morning: When I have my coffee in the morning at home, I fill out the questions" on a screening app provided by the hospital, she says. "At work, I get out of the car, I put my mask on, I have my phone in my hand with the screening app showing, I keep my car keys in my hand because I use my car keys to push the but- ton on the elevator. I explained all of this." e steps may seem mundane. "But I realized, if you're not used to that, you're probably wondering, 'When do I put my mask on? How do I juggle that with the phone?'" she says. "So I went through that step-by-step." Mental health ere's also a mental health aspect to consider. "Other crises have a pretty defini- tive end," says Angela Fileccia, man- ager of Northern Light's Healthy Life Resource Program. "If we were to have a big nor'easter, it's pretty clear it's com- ing, the storm happens, it's done, we clean up and move on." e pandemic is different. "We understand they're working on a vaccine, but in terms of when we can expect things to resolve, that is completely unknown," she says. "So it's going to be important, to help indi- viduals, businesses and the community writ large, to focus on how to increase resilience in this situation." Open lines of communication between employers and employees can help increase resilience, she says. "It might be saying, 'I'm not sure we have all the answers right now, let me tell you what we're thinking, let me collect feedback from you all,'" she explains. "at's a good way to provide a sense of control for folks. It allows people to be part of the process." Mills at Maine Health offers a similar assessment. "I think recognizing that, even if you yourself have done well, that's not been true for everyone," Mills says. "Many people have been extraordinarily stressed and dealing with the stress in different ways. Addressing the emotional and mental stressors is important." Planning for uncertainty How can employers think about oper- ations as the pandemic continues? "When people say, 'Do you think it will be six months, nine months?' I say, 'We're probably on a two-year program," says Dr. Steve Diaz, chief medical officer at MaineGeneral Health in Augusta. "COVID-19 isn't like previous novel outbreaks that were in distinct commu- nities, they got it under control, and then it went away. is will live on, even with a vaccine, because it's so ubiquitous." In this uncertain environment, experts advise employers to draft a plan, based on guidance and checklists, for the steps needed to ensure safe operations. "e plan can just be a page," Mills says. "It can be a playbook so they don't have to figure things out on the fly." At the same time, says MDI Hospital's Blank, employers should expect the plan to change. "It's a constant challenge to plan for change when the information and the science keep changing, because we keep learning more and more about this disease," says Blank. "We need to plan because it takes time to make changes. But at the same time, we need to keep an eye on current guidance and how that might impact what we're doing." Protections built into the workplace as a result of the health crisis will be a benefit into the future, he adds. "Even when we have the vehicle for being able to call an end to this pan- demic — and at some point, we expect it will be a vaccine — the reality is that there will be another one," Blank says. "We are a much more mobile society today. ese organisms continue to mutate and continue to advance. But we also know better and better how to deal with them. So it's a matter of being vigilant and doing the things we need to do to have an environment that's safe for everyone going forward." Laurie Schreiber, Mainebiz senior writer, can be reached at lschreiber @ mainebiz.biz

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