Working Safely in Times of Corona – Changes of the “Corona Occupational Safety Regulation” Already Implemented

The German “SARS-CoV-2 Occupational Safety and Health Regulation” published on 22 January 2021 has already twice been amended due to the accelerated rise in infection rates. Before the new version of the regulation came into effect, the relevant changes applicable to Jola had already been implemented.

The first amendment from 11 March 2021 published the following day took effect 13 March 2021. Its timing coincided perfectly with a scheduled meeting of our work safety board which is why we were able to immediately discuss any novelty therein included with company doctor Dr. Gabriele Magerl (Koamed | Competence Centre for Occupational Medicine and Work Safety) and occupational safety specialist Michael Rink (Technische Überwachung Rink GmbH), inter alia further reducing the indoor person capacity of certain rooms to ensure physical distance – a task as sensible as feasible given our spacious premises.

The second amendment dated 14 April 2021 was published 15 April 2021 and came into effect 20 April 2021. The amended version extended the legal force of the regulation until 30 June 2021. Meanwhile a third amendment was published on 22 April 2021 and took effect the following day. Currently, the regulation provides employers to offer a test directly detecting the pathogen of the SARS-CoV-2 at least twice a week to those employees who do not solely work from home. Jola’s safety officer Martin Anton had already ordered a sufficient quantity of tests so that we could kick off our testing offer right on time.