The Covid-19 pandemic disappeared jobs, but it has also created emerging jobs, such as that of a person who coordinates and supervises health security measures in the workplace. Chief Covid Officer, some companies prefer to call you. Whatever the name, the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) launched a virtual course to train those who are appointed to that role.

But also, it is not only that companies see it convenient to create that position. The federal government established, in the specific Technical Guidelines for the reopening of economic activities, that all work centers have the obligation to designate a person or a committee to guarantee compliance with preventive measures.

Their tasks include identifying vulnerable personnel, ensuring that all staff have protective equipment, and use it. It must also support the creation of the Health Safety Protocol. Return logistics and staggered schedules will also be your responsibility, among other functions.

In job boards like Indeed, Covid Officer positions are starting to be offered within the Human Resources area. The salary range goes from 15,000 to 18,000 pesos per month. There are other vacancies that are not for personnel management, but ask for knowledge of how to deal with this disease.

The Training of monitors for healthy return course is on the CLIMSS virtual platform. On that page the agency offers other job training related to the coronavirus. But also with topics such as retirement, mental health, or childcare. They are all free and open to the public.

This particular course consists of eight topics. Upon completion, says the IMSS, whoever has taken it will know how to prepare a Health Safety Protocol, a document required for the reopening of the company.

It lasts approximately 25 hours. It can be started and resumed when possible. Its methodology is “autonomous learning: being a 100% self-directed course, it gives you the possibility to learn at your own pace and to manage your time”. Another advantage, the IMSS mentions, is flexibility. “There are no established days and times for you to access.”

In total there are eight modules. At the end of each one, only in the case of the first seven themes, you have to complete “one challenge” to move on to the next. The challenge is approved with a minimum of 80 points. To accredit the course and obtain the Sanitary Security Badge, you must complete the seven challenges and answer a final questionnaire.

This is the syllabus of the course for covid monitors offered by the IMSS:

1. Planning and surveillance
2. Health promotion
3. Engineering or structural measures
4. Administrative or organizational measures
5. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
6. Information and training
7. Management systems
8. Preparation of the Health Safety Protocol

What a Covid monitor should know

To contain the pandemic, the federal government launched the National Sana Distancia Day, which lasted from March 23 to May 30. During this time, the health emergency was decreed.

As of April 1, only people who worked in activities considered essential could attend their workplace. Then, in June, the Covid traffic light began operating, which indicates the moment in which the rest of the companies can begin the gradual reopening of their on-site activities.

For safe return to work, that is, to avoid risks of contagion among workers, there are different official provisions. As new scientific evidence of the virus is presented, or the reality itself shows the complexity of “the new normal”, the federal authorities have been updating these provisions.

For example, the Secretaries of Health (SSA) and Labor (STPS) have twice presented guidelines for return to work. In the second document he made adjustments, including allowing the beards. Although he maintained restrictions on the use of ties.

This week also published the criteria for the return to work of people vulnerable to the spread of the new coronavirus. The indication of the federal authorities is that they stay at home, in most cases, until the traffic light is yellow in the state where the workplace is located.

With in companies that have been aware of the importance of personal protection, there are several physical and administrative adjustments that are being made. For this reason, many have preferred to hire or designate people in charge of coordinating all these issues.

Among the requirements mentioned in some of the vacancies for this profile published on digital job search platforms, experience in safety and hygiene and knowledge of the Covid-19 prevention rules promoted by the federal government for the operation of different companies.

By: Blanca Juárez

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