Diagnosis of surveillance, prevention, and control of COVID-19 in Peruvian mining work

Introduction: In Peru, mining companies had to register and implement the Plan for the surveillance, prevention, and control of COVID-19 at work (requested by the Ministry of Health), prior to restarting activities suspended due to the pandemic. Objective: To describe the situational status of the plans for the surveillance, prevention, and control of COVID-19 at work in the mining sector (1st and 2nd phases of economic reactivation, 2020). Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out of the database from the SISCOVID-Empresas system. Frequencies and proportions of the characteristics of the plans were reported (region of origin, number of workers, number of health professionals, existence of an occupational health and safety committee or supervisor, status of registration and budget report) according to the number of company workers. Results: In total 2,236 plan records were reviewed. Of the total, 6.2% of the registered plans indicate that they do not have an occupational health and safety supervisor or committee, and 71.5% do not have a health professional. Furthermore, 81.2% of the companies with more than 500 workers had medicine and nursing professionals, and 89.2% of companies with 1 to 20 workers did not have health professionals. Conclusions: Three out of 4 companies in the mining sector fail to comply with the requirements of the plan for the surveillance, prevention, and control of COVID-19 at work. © 2023, Editorial Ciencias Medicas. All rights reserved.

SURVEILLANCE, PREVENTION, AND CONTROL POLICIES OF COVID-19 IN HEALTH SECTOR WORKERS IN PERU

Background: Peru has been one of the countries with the highest burden of disease due to COVID-19. The Government of Peru has established basic guidelines for the preparation and registration of plans for the surveillance, prevention, and control of COVID-19 at work (PVPC) of Peruvian institutions. Objective:To characterize the PVPC of health sector institutions in Peru. Materials and Methods: retrospective descriptive secondary database study. The PVPCs of the health sector registered in the SISCOVID-Empresas platform of the Ministry of Health of Peru, mandatory registration for the reactivation of activities during the COVID-19 pandemic, were evaluated. Results: 1263 PVPC records from the health sector registered on the SISCOVID-Empresas platform were analyzed. Of the registered PVPCs, 5.8% of companies do not have a supervisor or committee for occupational safety and health, and 38.6% of companies with more than 20 workers do not have a health professional. Conclusions: A high non-compliance with what is required in the PVPCs in institutions of the Peruvian health sector was identified. It is necessary to reinforce and supervise the adequate fulfillment of the PVPC in these institutions.