Safety and Health and BCP(business continuity planning)during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which was first discovered in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, has evolved into a global pandemic owing to its highly infectious nature. The spread of the infection has drastically restricted people’s behaviors and accelerated a switch in their ways of life and working patterns, particularly, their transition to remote working or teleworking scenarios. In terms of the business continuity planning (BCP), the focus has been on controlling the spread of the infection. Although the introduction and availability of vaccines should lead to an eventual return to normalcy, the end result remains uncertain. With the well-established new normal, a return to where we were before the occurrence of COVID-19 will take time. This study therefore focuses on various problems emerging due to the new working patterns and ways of life that have been implemented from the health and safety perspective; moreover, it considers the ideal approach to occupational health and safety and BCP during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, with recommendations from various fields of industry, government and academia.