Businesses in Abu Dhabi have been issued new guidelines to ensure workplace health and safety as the threat of COVID-19 persists throughout the country.
The guidelines were issued by The Department of Economic Development in Abu Dhabi (DED), who claimed that only low risk individuals eligible to be in the workplace.
DED also explained that individuals who are between 18 to 55 years of ages with no underlying health conditions or chronic diseases. In addition to that, these individuals must either be living alone or with low-risk individuals.
Individuals who are over 55 years of age, pregnant women, and people who have been living with anyone with chronic disease will not be eligible to be included in the workplace.
It is worth mentioning that these guidelines, however, do not apply to the construction, manufacturing, and utility stores.
.@AbuDhabiDED has issued new guidelines for businesses to ensure workplace health & safety and to support employee needs, in line with preventative measures imposed by Abu Dhabi Emergency and Crisis Committee for the Covid-19 pandemic. pic.twitter.com/cqPqN4IwmJ
— مكتب أبوظبي الإعلامي (@ADMediaOffice) May 14, 2020
Here are all the guidelines listed:
- Thermal cameras must be installed at mall entrances and other large retail spaces.
- Safe masks and gloves to be worn by staff at all times.
- All displays should be protected behind plastic shielding, physical barriers, or removed entirely.
- Signage should be put in place to help maintain 2m distancing.
- There should be no physical contact between staff and customers.
- There should be separate entry and exit points to ensure unidirectional flow.
- Mall car parks should be limited to 50 percent capacity.
- Shops should ensure contactless payments.
- Whenever possible staff should be separated from customers by a plastic shield.
- Fevers or noticeable symptoms should be reported immediately to Department of Health (DoH).
- Customers must wear face masks and gloves should be encouraged.
- Maximum store capacity should be set, and must not exceed 5m2 per customers.
- All social areas must be closed.
- Hand-washing or sanitisation should be at all entry points.
- Malls must install disinfection gateways at entry and exit points, where customers and staff will be required to sanitise.
- Mall staff should be tested and cleared before returning to work.
- Use of high-tough surfaces should be reduced or eliminated wherever possible.
This is indeed a positive step to ensure that life returns to a normal without increasing the persisting threat of the deadly COVID-19. Cases across the globe continue to rise while the deaths are also steadily increasing.
However, if we follow the safety precautions and guidelines, we have a great chance of beating the coronavirus.
