Pinoys need a safety culture to adapt to the new normal

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco, Businessmirror, 24 Dec 2020

The new normal demands a “safety culture” as preventing the spread of the Covid-19 virus is contingent on public compliance and private sector cooperation.

Dr. Arnold Tabun, National Auditor of the Philippine College of Occupational Medicine, however noted that the response to the Covid-19 pandemic by the different countries around the world vividly exposed the differences in the cultural values of Eastern and Western societies.

He cited that South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, and even Cambodia were able to manage the pandemic better than their Western counterparts.

Death rates per million as reported by John Hopkins University were much higher in the United States, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, and Sweden, countries that are all considered “First World” countries.

“The response in Western societies includes defying lockdowns, refusal to wear face masks and maintain physical distance, protests and rallies against closures of pubs and churches, for example,” he explained.

On the other hand, Eastern societies have been more accepting of the demands made on them by their governments.

“The massive disparity in Eastern and Western responses to the pandemic lies in their cultural values,” he stressed.

Philippine culture

“In general, the Philippines has not yet developed a ‘safety culture’ as evidenced by daily scenes of people jaywalking, counterflow driving, riding without helmets or wearing seatbelts, spitting and urinating in public, throwing trash in the streets, among others. This has an overall negative influence on safety protocols. The safety culture is important in the new normal as it is a lifestyle that incorporates infection prevention and control (IPC) measures,” Dr. Tabun said during the Covid-19 Talk: “Understanding the Numbers, How It Affects us, and What the New Normal Will Look Like” hosted by Thomson Reuters Manila.

In terms of Covid-19 safety protocols, Dr. Tabun noted, “we have both negative and positive cultural influences. For example, it helps that Filipinos need to take a bath daily and that we have different footwear for outdoor and for indoor use.”

“However, we have practices that, while they are considered good under normal conditions, they increase the risk for Covid infection. These practices include mano po, boodle fight, huge extended family gatherings, fiestas and religious events and entertaining neighbors and new acquaintances in our homes,” he said.

He also expressed the belief that the high number of Covid-19 cases can somehow be attributed to the Filipinos’ “high-contact” culture.

“Yes, our high-contact culture plays a part in the number of Covid cases, but it is not the only factor. Other factors that contribute to the Covid case rate are the number of tests done, the adequacy of contact tracing and isolation,” he said.

He added that the way some Filipinos behave goes against safety guidelines.

“We have certain behaviors and practices that contradict the principles of infection prevention and control. For example, Covid protocols require minimal physical contact, but we have beso-beso and mano po,” he said noting that IPC measures include avoiding crowds “but we are so used to crowds.”

“We have fiestas, we have big family reunions with boodle fights, we have big processions like for the Black Nazarene, we love community videokes with tagayan,” he said as he also noted that IPC promotes isolation, “but we go home to an extended family with three or four generations living in one small household.”

Pre-pandemic to new normal

Dr. Tabun said that prior to the pandemic, the trend was to have open workspaces. Individual cubicles were replaced with shared tables without dividers to encourage social interaction.

“Now, these physical barriers have been brought back and is a reflection of the general lifestyle for the new normal—less physical dynamics and transitioning to virtual interaction. This is the same for schools which have shifted to online classes,” he said.

While the minimum health standards set by the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Health, and Department of Labor and Employment “are good,” he said based on the findings from their site audits, one of the major gaps in the IPC is more behavioral in nature. This means that while the protocols are in place, people do not follow them if there is no one watching.

“Establishments need to shift their focus from mere statutory compliance to a mindset of developing a safety culture among its constituents. With this mindset, we can expect the greater enforcement of OSH [occupational safety and health] protocols even without government regulations. The government can also provide a balance of penalties for non-compliance and incentives to establishments with excellent Safety and Health practices,” he furthered.

He strongly believes though that remote working will become the normal set-up, even in the post-pandemic scenario.

“Yes, for office-based companies but not for labor-based industries like manufacturing and construction. Now that companies have seen that their business operations were able to continue even if their employees are working from home [WFH] for almost a year, it is very likely that this WFH set-up will be continued post-pandemic,” he said adding that such a protocol intends to limit close physical interactions although “socializations and collaborations can still be done virtually. Admittedly, this requires some getting used to.”

“What we anticipate is that this will have an impact on work-life-balance and mental health which will eventually also impact an employee’s productivity,” he stressed.

When asked about the post-pandemic scenario, Dr. Tabun, being an OSH advocate, has expressed the hope that “Filipinos come out of this pandemic with a well-ingrained sense of health and safety.”

“Not spitting or urinating in public, not going to work when sick, throwing trash in the proper bins, seeking medical consult at the early signs of an illness. However, it’s too early to tell. A cultural change may take years to happen,” he concluded.