We all thought that by the 2022-2023 school year, we would be back to normal and could return to large in-person meetings and conferences but as the beginning of the school year faces us, we continue to face health and safety challenges. Perhaps this year we face the most serious health risks in our lifetimes. We see Covid numbers on the rise, we face Monkeypox, and we never thought we would hear the dreaded polio again, but it is back.
This is not an article about whether we agree with vaccinations or whether we agree with wearing masks. It is an article about respect and care for our fellow human beings.
It is an article begging you, that if you are planning an in-person conference, you plan it front and center with the health and safety of your members and attendees in mind. If we want individuals to come to a meeting or conference, we should care enough about them to let them honestly know what we as conference planners are doing for them to keep them as safe as we can.
We all would never want to think about what would happen if one of our members died from an event we sponsored and especially if it was from an event where we had not taken precautions to keep attendees safe.
With that philosophy of care and safety in mind, here are ten safety precautions that we all can keep in mind:
- Contact the health department in the local area where you are having your meeting to learn what their safety protocols are currently. Let your members know those protocols and update them until the time of the conference. Determine what their reporting requirements are. Provide them with written procedures when they register and provide them with the name and cellphone number of the health and safety coordinator.
- If people attending come down with any contagious disease, they should report that to the health department and if we have knowledge of contagion, we must also let attendees know we will report it. With all the in-home testing kits for covid, we have moved away from reporting, so we don’t have a handle on how significant the numbers having covid are.
- Contact the hotel or other venue you may be utilized to determine their safety protocols and provide them to your members. Let individuals who contract covid at your meeting know that they will be expected to let the hotel know for the sake of those individuals who work there or who are there for another meeting.
- Decide in advance what you will expect of attendees when they arrive. You will want to inform them in writing that, when they arrive, they must inform you that they do not have Covid and that they have not been exposed, to their knowledge, to Covid or another contagious disease within a given period of time. You should also notify in writing individuals that if they contract a contagious disease that they are to notify your health and safety coordinator and, yes, you should designate a reliable accessible individual who will respect the rights to privacy of the individual but will also notify other attendees that they may have been exposed to someone at the conference and that the individual will be expected to isolate themselves. A health and safety coordinator should be designated to check the areas of the hotel that might be congested, be available to answer questions, take reports of illness, and coordinate with the individual in charge of the conference. The name and phone number of the health and safety coordinator should be provided to all participants.
- Relay in writing that the group will be notified that a case has been reported but the name will not be shared with the group. The organization wishes you to have a safe gathering so you will be asked to sign a statement that if you contract Covid or other contagion you will notify the health and safety coordinator. The local health authority must also be contacted so we will have to give them your name and home address. The health and safety coordinator will also notify the hotel. The other attendees will be notified only that a case has been reported.
- Check your organization’s meeting liability insurance to see if it covers someone getting ill at your event. Some liability policies do not cover illness which is why you want to proceed with caution and do everything possible to ensure safety. You must exhibit due diligence.
- A statement like—we will follow safety protocols is not sufficient—be specific and describe the safety protocols that the organization will implement. What are the safety protocols? I have seen protocols that state—we will follow social distancing and yet you never see any distancing.
- Request in writing that the hotel or other venue arrange space so that there are areas where people can isolate. I recently attended a conference with over 2000 people. There was no social distancing in the room where the keynote speakers gave their presentation but on the outside perimeter of the room, there were chairs that were 6 feet apart where people could sit away from others. Look for areas where people could isolate while still being in the room with the activities. They still have access.
- Have a voluntary coding system on name tags where people can let each other know their comfort level—a red sticker means that the person is uncomfortable with hugs and close contact, a yellow means proceed with caution, and a green means the person is very comfortable around people. This type of system is respectful of those who may be immune compromised.
- Allow people who are uncomfortable eating with groups, but still want to socialize with others, to box their food, or take their food to an isolated area or back to their room to eat in privacy. Some individuals who are masked do not want to eat in public.
- Respect individuals who do wear masks for their own safety or to protect someone else. Avoid making fun of them, making derogatory statements to them, yelling at them that you can’t hear them well, or commenting, “Take that mask off for a picture. That won’t hurt you.” It is unfortunate that some choose to be insensitive. Likewise, refrain from derogatory comments to those who don’t wear a mask.
- We must be sensitive about how difficult it is for people to fear that they will be exposed to a contagious disease or will have a loved one harmed by exposure. Never punish an individual because they do not feel safe to attend a meeting. Many organizations have members who are medically fragile and they deserve our care and compassion, not reprimands from people who fail to understand hidden disabilities.
In the event that someone needs to file a complaint that someone is failing to follow the written protocols, that individual will report to the health and safety coordinator who will investigate the complaint as quickly as possible. If substantiated, the health and safety coordinator reserves the right to ask the person to leave the conference.
As you move forward with in-person meetings at a time when the health of members and attendees is at risk, let’s practice care, caution, and compassion.
This is wonderfully, beautifully, thoughtfully, and professionally done. Outstanding points made clearly and with compassion at the forefront of concern.
Thank you so much for all you contribute to the world.