No, the masks have not yet left work: What will happen from this Wednesday?

On

the obligation to wear a mask indoors will be lifted.

The Government considers that it is no longer necessary to control the pandemic and the Minister of Health,

, announced a few weeks ago that "thanks to the very high level of immunization that the population has, our epidemiological situation is in a favorable context."

However, this does not mean that this protection system will disappear completely.

Actually, the measure must first be approved in the Council of Ministers on the 19th and then appear reflected in the Official State Gazette the following day.

They are, it is presumed, procedures that explain this gap between the announcement and the entry into force.

Once that happens, it will be the companies that decide what they want to do inside their buildings.

Specifically, it will be done by the

department .

There will also be a series of exceptions, as indicated by the Ministry of Health itself: they are kept in

(for workers, visitors and admitted people, but the latter only in common spaces),

and in the

.

Outside of these cases, the criteria of each company will be imposed.

But

when making any decision.

And it will depend, in any case, on what the BOE indicates and what the Health Ministry contributes, "which is what has been setting the guidelines and criteria for intervening in companies from the point of view of occupational risk prevention", recalls

, coordinator of the UGT occupational health secretariat.

“We understand that this document will collect and put on the table criteria for the use or not of the mask depending on whether the own, external or joint prevention services estimate and assess the risk based on the exposure of the workers, of the situation or physical work, that there is adequate ventilation or not, that there is a renewal through filters or other consideration of elements that can guarantee health", continues de las Morenas.

In other words, it is about finding, as it has been up to now, a way to live with a virus that is still very present, but, at the same time, doing so from a new reality in which vaccination rates have reduced the risk.

Therefore, each company must have "a technical criterion based on a risk assessment" and will also be "responsible for adopting the appropriate measures."

Based on this evaluation, exceptions will be given, especially in workplaces with poor ventilation or where it is impossible to maintain safety distances.

"We understand that

, not a capricious criterion of 'everyone puts it on for no reason', but with a technical criterion that assesses and exposes all those circumstances that can occur in a workplace".

In this sense, de las Morenas also recalls that the opposite should not happen in those companies that can comply with the necessary sanitary measures to eliminate the use of masks and prefer to keep them for image reasons when this could pose a danger to workers.

An example would be the firms that are dedicated to outdoor catering.

"This is not a matter of aesthetics or ethics: we are talking about prevention of occupational hazards and preventing contagions that can lead to outbreaks in the workplace or in the framework of social activity," he says.

"There are workers who are exposed to the presence of the public (at a wedding or an event) and what must be guaranteed is the collective protection of those who attend, as well as the individual protection of each of the workers who are exposed," keep going.

"I believe that

", exposes the UGT coordinator.

"If we talk about exposure to heat with the waves that may come, that consideration must often be taken to assess the metabolic cost and the pace of work that these workers have and that obviously can be affected by a protective element such as masks. "he recalls.

Thus, in the event that, after this evaluation, the company decides to keep the masks, the employee must respect and abide by the decision.

If the company decides to eliminate them, the worker will be able to go with an FFP2 if they so wish.

"The responsibility is business and under that criteria I understand that a call must be made to the individual and collective responsibility of all, businessmen and workers, so that this is not a problem and becomes a source of contagion as it has been in certain phases," he details.

In his opinion, "we must appeal to that common sense, to good sense and to a rational, adequate and correct use depending on the risk".

good reception

A few days after the restriction is lifted, the sensations in the business fabric are good and the measure is considered positive.

"The end of the restrictions in general is generating

," says Cepyme.

"In particular, the elimination of this restriction encourages the activation in certain activities that were carried out indoors, especially in the service sector, so that their recovery can be completed and carried out."

In any case, this optimism should not lead to an absolute relaxation of the measures.

The organization expects companies to maintain the public health and hygiene recommendations that had already been adapted "until we have fully overcome this situation."

"Companies are the first to be aware of the changes caused by the incidence of the virus and the impact of a new wave," argues Cepyme.

In this aspect, they coincide with the caution requested from the Morenas: "It is a matter of evaluation; it does not have to be a criterion or a whim of the company in the context of savings. It is about protecting health: if we protect health We will protect the economy and activity in this country."

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