Burt Rodrigues CEO of Biodx gives his thoughts on Workers Day and making sure we are all protected at work.

“Working and earning a living is an essential part of life for those lucky enough to be employed, at whatever level from junior to CEO, but this took a different turn in March 2020 for South Africans when Covid-19 became part of our lives.

“How do we carry on working and stay protected from this deadly virus was the question on everyone’s lips from essential health care workers to supermarket checkout employees? Since then we’ve gone through lockdowns at different levels but today most of the workforce under Level 1 is back in place. The issue remains – are your employers keeping you as safe as possible?

More to a product than meets the eye

“For some the answer to this might be, ‘of course, our offices are regularly disinfected and we’re provided with sanitisers’. But the question remains are the products being used the proper, legitimate ones?

“How can you tell? It’s actually easier than you may think. On every product there should be two clear registration marks. One from the SABS (South African Bureau of Standards) and the other from the (NRCS) National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications. Without these logos there’s no guarantee that the products being used are effective in killing the Covid-19 virus, which means you the consumer are at risk.

“It’s an essential part of an employers’ role to ensure that their staff are protected and not being endangered by cost cutting measures by using cheap products.

“The responsibility lies with management and executives who are responsible to only use regulated, registered and labelled products to keep their workplace safe. This is their fiduciary duty. Transparency and trust have never been more important than they are today and it starts by demonstration.”