This post first appeared on Risk Management Magazine. Read the original article.
As enterprises around the world prepare to return from COVID-19 shutdowns, legal and compliance leaders are putting together new plans and procedures to do so safely. According to a recent Gartner report, legal and compliance leaders should focus on three main aspects: monitoring developments for when to return, developing new work standards to ensure employee safety and comply with local mandates, and working with business leaders to develop new on-site safety measures that protect both employee health and privacy. In an April 27 Gartner poll, legal leaders identified the top safety provisions required before employees can return to worksites: social or physical distancing arrangements (95%), adequate personal protective equipment (79%), a safe work playbook (58%), visitor screening processes (56%), and temperature or symptom check procedures (52%).
Organizations should be prepared to make incremental progress and adapt their provisions as they monitor results in practice. “While many companies are facing business pressures to return to the workplace, the most progressive companies understand this decision requires a ‘dial,’ not a ‘switch,’” said Vidhya Balasubramanian, managing vice president of Gartner’s legal and compliance practice.