As the country enters into the second phase of the lockdown amid Covid-19 pandemic, industry chambers have started preparing strategies for coming out of the lockdown. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has released one such paper having plans for resuming industrial activities post-lockdown.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced extension of the lockdown till May 3, 2020, in a televised message here.
Meanwhile, the CII in its report on Post Lockdown Protocol for Food Processing & Packaging Facilities says the industry should ensure all possible measures under the Covid Scenario to protect health of Employees & Customers keeping in view the mantra of social distancing and hygiene norms.
1. Transport to site
• Transport recommended with not more than 50% capacity utilisation per vehicle.
• Office provided transport to be cleaned & sanitised after every trip.
2. Entering controls
• The factory gate should have clear signage of queue standing positions marked about 1.5 metre apart with hand wash/sanitiser facility for all personnel entering the site.
• All employees and visitors to be thoroughly screened for Covid-19 symptoms- fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Body temperature to be checked with a non-contact type thermometer and temperature more than 37.5 Deg C (99.5 Deg F) should not be allowed to enter the premises.
• All visitors to submit self-declarations on their travel history and medical conditions and post-screening only allowed in the stores.
• Biometric scanning used by employees to be discontinued at all locations to prevent any kind of touch contamination.
• Allow high risk employees to stay home/ work from home (people over 65, pregnant people, medical conditions).
3. During work
• Self-Reporting and Isolation Procedures to be established and implemented;
• Social distancing of approximately 1.5 metre to be always maintained in manufacturing, workstations, changerooms/ lockers and entry/ exit gates.
• Masks to be worn by everyone in the facility;
• Gloves to be provided for Housekeeping Staff / Food Handlers to ensure adequate safety is taken care.
• All machine touch points, operating panels, seats, covers. Toolbox etc. requiring human touch, should be sanitised at an hourly frequency with effective sanitisers. • Handling of waste like used masks, gloves, cleaning tools to be done as biohazardous waste.
4. Common Areas Management
• Ensure social distancing in all common areas like Meeting rooms, Locker rooms, Change rooms, Corridors and others.
• Hand wash terminals with soap and water to be established at various strategic location in the facility.
• All washrooms should be sprayed with toilet cleaner/Sodium hypochlorite solution, at least twice a shift.
• Regular sanitisation of the entire facility including meeting rooms, change rooms, canteens, equipment to be done frequently.
• Pre-operation inspections to cover critical areas like Water Treatment Plant / Canteen / Touch points.
5. Training
• All Delivery, Loading and Unloading personnel to be briefed about the Covid awareness everyday morning. The vehicles carrying the goods to be thoroughly sanitised before loading and after unloading.
• Ensure every food handler in the plant to be thoroughly trained and provided with all the necessary knowledge on Covid-19.
• Train employees on hygienic use of masks and gloves.
• Prominently display Do’s/Don’ts Instructions on Covid-19 Symptoms, Use of thermal scanner and desired body temperature range (not more than 37.5 Degrees C/99.5 Degree F), Hand Washing norms, When to wash hands, Coughing and Sneezing norms, Norms of not Touching eyes/ nose, How to wear a mask, gloves, hairnets, beard nets, possible cross contamination sources, Need for washing hands before wearing Gloves and Basic Hygiene including taking a bathing/shaving and norms before entering their factory/houses in Local Language at various places inside & outside the factory.
• Staff canteens and Rest areas should follow ~ Workplace canteens may remain open where there are no practical alternatives for staff to obtain food. ~ staff can continue to use rest areas if they apply the same social distancing and as far as reasonably possible, approx. 1.5 metre should be maintained between users
6. Best Practices
• Isolation rooms could be provided in the facilities as part of emergency preparedness.
• Train partners /suppliers on hygiene practices and social distancing norms.
• Share hygiene, sanitisation and safety protocols with guidelines to implement the same at suppliers’ premises.
• Share safety measures within professional and personal communities.
• Consider improving the engineering controls using the building ventilation system. This may include some or all of the following activities: Increase ventilation rates. Increase the percentage of outdoor air that circulates into the system.