MENTAL health issues, crime and civil unrest are some of the possible threats countries and the labour market face with the Covid-19 pandemic, global health and security services company International SOS said.

Its Risk Outlook 2021 report launched recently said there are five health and security risks it predicts for this year, which are largely influenced by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The research, carried out by London-based market research company Ipsos Mori, involved interviews with 1400 risk professionals across 99 countries, who made five predictions:

1. Ecopolitical turbulence will exacerbate tensions, civil unrest and crime

Experts said social unrest and anti-government sentiments are highly likely in countries where the government is perceived to fail in managing the pandemic, or unable to unite people.

Around 30% of risk professionals felt that security threats would be among the top causes of a decrease in employee productivity in 2021.

2. Greater duty of care practices for employers towards workers

Some 54% of risk professionals said that organisations found it challenging to get adequate resources to ensure the health and security of their employees during the pandemic, while 28% of organisations found evacuating employees a challenge.

“Health and wellbeing have now moved to the top of the agenda, it is now for the first time for many companies a board-level matter.

“Organisations offering a new provision of enhanced duty of care to their employees will be far more attractive to both talent and investors,” the report said.

Secretary-general of the National Safety Council of Singapore, Jaleel Rahiman who is also from the Workforce Resilience Council said “employer care” is critical in future employee attraction, engagement, and retention.

“Now, if you join a company and they say we don’t cover you for hospitalisation and all that stuff, that will become a factor for the employee, whether they want to take up the job,” he said.

3. Politicisation of health information and challenges in obtaining trustworthy information

Based on International SOS analysis, the volume of academic information published on Covid-19 in the past year is estimated at 50% of that published on HIV-Aids in the last 39 years.

Some 40% of risk professionals said trust in local governments and health bodies is seen as a key challenge, most acutely felt in the Americas.

“Perhaps most damaging of all has been the politicisation of health topics. Politicians expressing counter-opinions to preventative measures like mask-wearing have caused division and confusion.

“This involvement of political language, ‘speaking in the name of science/facts’, into health matters is new territory for many nations,” the report stated.

Experts added that organisations now also need to consider if their decisions on health and safety are going to be seen as political support or lack thereof.

“It is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate, especially if companies are unable to source opinion from and share responsibility with an apolitical independent,” the report says.

4. Mental health issues to disrupt productivity

Almost one-in-three business risk professionals see mental health issues as an impact on employee productivity in 2021, the survey found.

Experts saw mental health overtaking infectious disease risks soon.

“Older employees face increased stress through lack of contact with stakeholders and heads of department.

“Younger employees face increased stress through lack of hands-on training and mentoring.

“Seventy-five percent of the younger workers are reporting mental strain,” the report quoted a resource from Mckinsey, a management consultant company.

The report also recorded on a side note that the World Health Organisation (WHO) highlighted in October last year that countries were spending less than 2% of their national health budgets on mental health.

This is a chronic underfunding of mental health and a struggle to meet the population’s needs, WHO said.

5. Singular focus on Covid-19 will create risk blind spots

Some 60% of risk professionals especially in Asia felt that health and security risks faced by employees will increase further in 2021.

These concerns include the implications of working-from-home, the underlying health issues, and wider environmental issues such as extreme temperatures and pollution.

“There has been a reduction in preventative screenings for chronic health issues such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer diagnosis,” the report stated.

Experts commented on a ticking time bomb of underlying chronic health threats going undetected and untreated.

“If you look at the number of heart attacks, strokes, all of these very, very common events, we are seeing 20%, 30%, 40% less of them this year, and there’s no way that they’d stopped happening.

“So, somehow they are not being reported, which means these individuals are likely far worse off, we just haven’t seen them yet,” the Workforce Resilience Council collectively said.

They added that more focus is needed for monitoring employee health on an ongoing basis.

The mentality that defines “good” employees as those who work hard and ignore their own health needs must also change, and organisations must promote a culture of self-care and health protection of workers, the report noted. – March 5, 2021.