The official UK CPNI (Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure) has brought out a ‘COVID-19 Workplace Actions campaign‘. CPNI stress that it’s a “living” campaign that will be updated, based around ‘behaviour change’. CPNI developed it for use themselves. Their aim; to help encourage the right behaviours on their own premises, keeping employees as safe as possible.
Offered are downloadable, editable print and digital posters, advertising the 2m social distancing rule, washing of hands and clean desks, virtual rather than in-person meetings; and ‘say if it’s not ok’.
Also downloadable is a more detailed guidance document on how to prepare and roll out such a campaign, and ’embedding the messages’; monitor how it’s going, and refresh it.
CPNI suggest, for Covid-19 as for (say) making a workplace security culture to counter terorrism and any crime:
– Creating a ‘measured’ amount of worry (not fear) to motivate and engage staff whilst providing reassurance about what the organisation is doing to help keep them safe and what they can actively do themselves as part of this effort.
– Emphasising the ‘we’, being in this together, keeping yourself and your colleagues safe (and in doing so ultimately helping the organisation deliver our mission as safely as possible) – embedding a sense of altruism and duty which also aligns with wider Government approach and key messages.
– Creating specific and simple behaviours (and simple, specific messages) and explaining why they are important to do.
– Empowering staff to speak up and say if they are concerned about safety of a particular workplace situation and importance of doing so and feeding back to improve working practices/guidance.
– Consider the potential negative consequences of these behaviours – if for example people are avoiding one area, where will they go instead – and trying to mitigate; such as if a works kitchen can only hold a few people, might people simply gather outside in the corridor.
This is not, CPNI point out, a standard CPNI security behaviour campaign. It writes: “However, we believe many other organisations are in a similar position to ours or will be over the next coming months. Organisations will need their employees and visitors to undertake the correct social distancing and hygiene behaviours effectively to continue operating or to return to a position of where their missions can be delivered safely, which is vital both to the re-opening of the economy and delivery of key services.”
The campaign was developed rapidly within two weeks, and has not yet had evaluation; but has been based on CPNI’s behavioural science, as behind its work on personnel, physical and cyber security alike. Visit https://www.cpni.gov.uk/covid-19-workplace-actions-0.
