When COVID-19 struck the world, governments and businesses struggled in the dark to calculate its impacts. Today, as the pandemic continues to rage on, it has changed the way the world works; closing businesses, shutting down schools, locking down cities. As of 11th May, the virus has infected nearly 4 million people all over the world.
In Singapore, the number of new COVID-19 cases saw a sharp increase in March, resulting in the government’s decision to roll out circuit breaker measures to decisively lower the rate of community transmission. This response has been successful so far. The government has recently announced that it would start a gradual easing of the circuit breaker measures and that it would allow some businesses, including selected food retail outlets, food manufacturing companies and home-based food businesses to resume operations from 12th May.
Following the successful implementation of Singapore’s ‘Lock Down’ and ‘Circuit Breaker’ strategies, there will, inevitably, be a slow and carefully regulated return to work and ‘business as usual’ again.
Therefore, all organisations, businesses, employers and public services need to consider how, ‘Post COVID-19’ they will prepare to resume their activities, whilst ensuring a socially and legally appropriate duty of care to their employees, customers, suppliers and the general public at large.
As we know, the very success of the Singaporean COVID-19 strategy has been underpinned by reducing and then maintaining the “Reproduction Rate” or the “R Number” below 1.
Therefore, it is not only common sense, scientifically proven, but also a moral responsibility to now focus on actions that contribute directly to this National strategy. Therefore, ‘Big Red’ in conjunction with ‘IAQ’ have constructed a ‘mix and match’ menu of cleaning, sanitation and disinfection activities that you should consider for implementation at your premises.
External Environment
Before even opening your doors to the outside world again for business, you should ensure that your employees, delivery people and customers do not carry viruses from directly outside your premises to the inside. ‘Big Red’ offers a full cleaning and residual disinfection service of all your pathways and ‘high touch’ surfaces such handrails, doors and handles to ensure that the cleanliness and safety of the inside is not compromised from contamination residing outside.
Preventing Direct Routes of Infection
Once people have entered your building, it is essential to ensure that they cannot infect one another directly, therefore it is essential to ensure that all premises are provided with adequate supplies of sanitisers, ‘PPE’ and detection equipment. ‘Big Red’ has a full inventory of high-quality infection control equipment and supplies to fully meet your specific requirements.
Is your Premise a Time Bomb Waiting to Happen?
Preventing Indirect Routes of Transmission
One of the primary routes of COVID-19 transmission is indirectly, via contaminated surfaces or airborne infection.
Surfaces
In the fight against the COVID-19 virus ‘Big Red’ offers two carefully integrated proprietary solutions that can if desired to be deployed independently. The first ‘BR Strike’ can completely eradicate 99.9999% of all pathogens leaving treated surfaces effectively sterile.
The second, ‘BR Shield Anti-Microbial Protection’ offers total disinfection of any surface, including ‘high touch’ areas and provides ongoing protection and peace of mind for over six months 24/7.
Air-Conditioning and Ventilation Systems
It is well known that COVID-19 is readily spread by airborne contamination, therefore, airconditioning and ventilation systems can provide a MAJOR risk! Fortunately, our industry partner ‘IAQ’ has a multitude of hi-tech solutions to keep your air handling systems clean and hygienic at all times, therefore eliminating the risk of the COVID-19 virus being spread around entire buildings by this route.
All Customer-facing operations must adhere to Government prescribed hygiene measures!
On May 12th the Singapore Government published its statutory requirements that are now a legal requirement for all business that will be returning to work from May 12th. It clearly states that all premises must take care of the following:
- SafeEntry at malls, supermarkets, hair salons
- Temperature screening
- 1m spacing between customers at all times
- All staff & customers must wear masks
- Place hand sanitisers close to high touch surfaces
- Regular cleaning and disinfection of common spaces
At ‘Big Red’ and ‘IAQ Consultants’ we are ready and very capable of making sure that as a minimum you comply with these rules, or preferably exceed them in exercising your legal ‘duty of care’ to your employees, members of the public. Here is a checklist to help you determine what exactly you need to do!
External Environment- All pathways, walkways, steps, stairs and other routes of access properly cleaned and disinfected to prevent ingress of pathogens from outside.
- All external high touch surfaces such as handrails, door handles and push plates properly cleaned, disinfected and protected from future pathogenic contamination.
- Provision of temperature screening equipment and hand-sanitisers.
- Marking of pathways and waiting areas with 1m demarcations as necessary.
Direct Routes of Infection
- Provision of safety signs, hand-sanitisers, face-masks, eye protection and appropriate hygienic hand-washing facilities and supplies.
- Provision of any other task specific ‘PPE’ equipment.
Indirect Routes of Infection
- All common areas cleaned, sanitized, disinfected or sterilized according to risk of transmission using treatments such as ‘BR Strike’.
- All ‘high-touch’ areas protected with ongoing, long-term disinfection by using durable protective measures such as ‘BR Shield Anti-Microbial Protection’.
Airconditioning and ventilation Equipment
- Using accurate microbiological testing methodologies provided by ‘IAQ’, check and assess the likely risk of airborne infection and cross contamination via air-conditioning and ventilation systems.
- Clean, de-contaminate and protect all air-handling systems as necessary.
