SINGAPORE - Firms must put in place safe management measures at workplaces to prevent Covid-19 from spreading in the community again even as local transmission numbers fall, the Ministry of Manpower said on Saturday (May 9).
Here are some of the measures.
1. Having a detailed monitoring plan
- Appoint safe management officers to put in place safe distancing measures.
- The officers must ensure compliance, conduct checks regularly, and keep a record of inspections.
2. Working from home
- Meetings should be conducted virtually.
- Conferences, seminars and social gatherings at workplaces, including eating in groups, must be postponed or cancelled.
3. Working from office
- Those who cannot work from home must stagger working or break hours.
- They should work in split teams or in shifts, and cannot meet colleagues in other teams.
- Those in the same shift or team must be at least 1m apart and wear a mask at all times.
4. Checking temperatures
- Onsite employees' temperatures to be taken twice daily.
- Checks for respiratory symptoms among employees twice daily too.
- Temperature screening and respiratory symptoms for visitors where applicable.
5. Checking travel and medical history
- Employees and visitors to submit declarations of travel history before being allowed to enter offices and worksites.
- Confirm that they have not received a quarantine or isolation order, stay-home notice, or been issued medical certificates for respiratory symptoms.
- Declare that they are not a close contact of confirmed cases.
- Employers to keep records for at least 28 days.
6. Unwell employees
- Employers must ensure that each employee visits only one clinic for checkups.
- Otherwise, employees should inform the clinic of doctor visits over the past 14 days for any Covid-related symptoms.
- Onsite employees who have visited a clinic must submit records of their MCs and diagnoses provided, only for Covid-19- related symptoms, to employers.
- They should also submit the results of their Covid-19 tests if they took them.
- Evacuation plan must be prepared for unwell or suspected cases, as well as for other onsite personnel.
7. Demarcating safe physical distances
- Employers must demarcate distances of at least 1m in offices or at worksites.
- For example, they can install high barriers between workstations.
- Applies to common spaces such as pantries, meeting rooms and lifts.
8. Observing safe distancing at meetings
- Limit number of attendees at important meetings that cannot be postponed.
- Shorten the time needed to meet.
9. Receiving deliveries
- Safe distancing rules apply.
- Stagger delivery times by different suppliers.
- Keep deliveries as brief as possible.
10. Managing queues
- Show where customers and visitors should queue, according to the Trade and Industry Ministry.
- Install self-ordering options and contactless payment modes accordingly.
- Use CCTV or video analytics to ensure safe distancing.
11. Contact tracing
- Employers to encourage workers to download contact-tracing app TraceTogether.
- Limit workplace access to essential employees and authorised visitors.
- Use national digital check-in system SafeEntry to record all entries and exits, including employees and visitors.
12. Having a clean workplace
- Common spaces, including lifts, pantries and visitor rooms, must be cleaned regularly.
- Shared machinery and equipment must be disinfected before being used by others.
- Toilets and hand-washing areas to have soap and toilet paper
- Hand sanitisers at lift lobbies, security booths and reception areas.
