Moderating effect of OHS actions based on WHO recommendations to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 in multinational companies

Geraldo Cardoso de Oliveira Neto; Henrricco Nieves Pujol Tucci; Moacir Godinho Filho; Wagner Cezar Lucato; Dirceu da Silva

doi:10.1016/j.psep.2022.01.011

Moderating effect of OHS actions based on WHO recommendations to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 in multinational companies

Process Saf Environ Prot. 2022 Mar:159:652-661. doi: 10.1016/j.psep.2022.01.011. Epub 2022 Jan 10.

Authors

Geraldo Cardoso de Oliveira Neto¹, Henrricco Nieves Pujol Tucci¹, Moacir Godinho Filho², Wagner Cezar Lucato¹, Dirceu da Silva³

Affiliations

¹ Industrial Engineering Post-Graduation Program, Universidade Nove de Julho (UNINOVE), Vergueiro Street, 235/249 - 12 Floor, zip code: 01504-001 Liberdade, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
² Production Engineering Program, Federal University of São Carlos. Production Engineering Program, Federal University of São Carlos, Via Washington Luis, Km 235 Monjolinho, zip code: 13565-905 Sao Paulo, Brazil.
³ Department of Cultural Practices of the University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Av. Bertrand Russell, 801, Cidade Universitária, Campinas, CEP: 13083-865 São Paulo, SP, Brazil.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the moderating effect of Occupational Health and Safety actions based on the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations to mitigate the negative effect of COVID-19 on the operational, logistical, marketing (OLMP), and health and safety performance (OHSP) of workers in multinational industries. The development of surveys in companies was the method adopted, which had confirmatory evaluations through Structural Equations Modelling (SEM). As a result, it was confirmed that this is one of the few scientific studies that expectedly validates that the COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted operational, logistical, market, and Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) performance. This is also one of the few research projects to assess the moderating effect of OHS practices based on WHO to mitigate the effects of COVID-19. According to our findings, those practices were able to reduce by at least 50% the effect of the COVID-19 crisis on operational, logistical, and marketing performance. However, they minimize by only 1.8% the negative effects of health and safety performance for the worker, generating absenteeism increasingly due to physical and mental problems. This number could be higher if the social distance could be provided in public transportation and if employees were more aware of the risks of COVID-19 contamination during their social activities.

Keywords: COVID-19; Occupational Health and Safety; Performance.