
Kristy Nicholson
National Manager – Health and Safety Consulting, Mercer Marsh Benefits
+61 2 8864 8214As states and territories across Australia emerge from lockdowns and border closures, organisations face the reality of learning to live with COVID-19 whilst reopening their businesses – a challenge they have never had to navigate before. The risk of COVID-19 in the workplace has never been more prevalent and proactive risk management, as well as compliance to government restrictions and health orders, has never been more complex and critical for businesses.
Mercer Marsh Benefits (MMB) and EML are pleased to have partnered to bring you a suite of helpful resources and information to assist your business to reopen safely and effectively manage the risk of COVID-19 in your workplace.
The following recommendations should be assessed in conjunction with employee mental health considerations:
For more information, visit Wellbeing (marsh.com)
All businesses should ensure a safe working environment is adopted throughout the return to work transition, including measures to reduce the risks of COVID-19. Complying with the appropriate state or territory safety plans and guidelines is a necessity for keeping employees and businesses safe.
Taking a risk management approach ensures that the business determines the appropriate level of control measures to implement to prevent workplace transmission.
For more information, visit Vaccination | Safe Work Australia (swa.gov.au)
If an employee raises concerns about co-workers being unvaccinated, it is important to highlight that vaccination is not mandatory (unless working in a profession with mandatory requirements as specified by your state or territory) or that they may have a medical exemption.
Whilst vaccinations are available to all, it may not be reasonably practical to require vaccinations in a workplace. Ensuring employee safety is about minimising the total risk of COVID-19 in the workplace, with vaccination being one way to do so. It is important to remind employees that whilst vaccination is encouraged, there are other control measures in place to manage the overall risk in the workplace.
An employee can only be required to get vaccinated where:
MMB and EML are offering a limited number of co-funded support packages for EML clients to help you create the tools needed for your business.
National Manager – Health and Safety Consulting, Mercer Marsh Benefits
+61 2 8864 8214Marsh Pty Ltd (ABN 86 004 651 512)(“Marsh”). This webpage is not intended to be taken as advice regarding any individual situation and should not be relied upon as such. The information contained herein is based on sources we believe reliable, but we make no representation or warranty as to its accuracy. Marsh shall have no obligation to update this publication and shall have no liability to you or any other party arising out of this publication or any matter contained herein.