13 Security SOPs for Business Offices in Malaysia to Combat COVID-19

Author comment: Thanks to the OCMC, some companies have started to return to their offices with strict standard operating procedures, in accordance with guidelines established by the government. At Vulcan Post, we are waiting for the entire AGC period and monitoring the situation before making a decision, but man, I really miss my office.

So a little
jealous, I contacted a variety of Malaysian offices, large and small, to
Discover the security SOPs they would implement or update upon their return
Their offices

How can you expect an increase
Sanitation and hygiene practices are implemented everywhere, manually.
wash to disinfect each exposed surface and wear masks.

But what more can i say
Beyond that? Much more, according to these companies.

a) Establish rule books or manuals

The first rule of
The thumb always makes sure that everyone is on the same wavelength
The company manages COVID-19 and social distancing.

For a larger company like Sunway, had a Sunway Crisis Management Team (SCMT) that implemented Sunway's COVID-19 guidelines and preventive measures. AT Nestlé Malaysia, has also implemented an access control policy across the enterprise.

Perhaps for a small business, sending a company-wide email that is concise in its instructions and reasoning would suffice.

2) Perform temperature checks

The temperature controls are
One of the easiest ways to identify immediately if you need to let someone in
Your local or not.

If your business or building management can afford it, this should definitely be one of the first layers of detection before entry, as implemented by Sunway and Nestlé Malaysia.

In addition, Nestlé Malaysia records daily temperature readings for reference, and Sunway records visitors.

3. Entry codes

Sunway has now succeeded
mandatory for employees to complete a digital self-declaration form
current medical condition, recent travel history, interactions with confirmed or suspected persons
COVID-19 case and recent participation in mass meetings.

This is done daily,
And going even further, the company has also implemented QR codes which
They are only valid for one day and are generated when filling out the form.

MAGIC Staff should scan a barcode in the lobby to log in and assist with contact tracing efforts.

If you are looking to implement something similar in your office building, you can opt for CovCT, which is a free platform where people can sign up after scanning a QR code.

4) FMH extended for some employees

Now that we are all familiar with the culture of the WFH, companies are considering implementing voluntary WFH policies as a solution to reducing the number of office workers per day.

Nestlé Malaysia implemented voluntary WFH throughout the month of May, and it also works to your advantage as its employees have to access high traffic areas such as elevators to reach their offices.

Employees who work for Protemp Sdn Bhd Exhibitions and Conferences (Protemp), which organizes, manages and represents fairs and conferences established in Southeast Asia, can also opt for the same thing while monitoring its status.

MaGIC is a
slightly stricter by only allowing 20 employees per day at the office, so that
the rest will remain WFH.

5) Split transactions

If you prefer one more
organized way of regulating the size of employees, could introduce division
operations

This allows different
groups of employees to work at various locations in the office, at home or
even at another time.

Ejen2u, a cloud management platform, has divided its team into 3 groups: Administration, Developers and Service and customer support. Only the latest equipment is allowed in the office, as it provides a better environment in terms of noise reduction and Internet connectivity which are an integral part of their work.

6. Standing doors

Nestlé Malaysia has modified its doors to work with the feet, where it simply uses the foot to open the doors instead of the hands.

7. Rearrange the seats

Protemp places a 6 at
10 feet of space between each employee, leaving some tables empty to facilitate
this.

AT Doctor on call, only 4 people are allowed at an office at a time, and the seats are treated as desks in a coworking space, as different employees come and go from the office each day.

Ejen2u employees no longer work in their usual open space, but instead use several rooms and place only 2 to 3 employees at a time.

8) Bring your own prayer materials

The sejadah (Pray
mat) and telekung (prayer dress for Muslim women) are objects that
get in close touch with people during prayer, so Sunway set up a
rule for employees to bring their own security measures.

9) Social distance markers everywhere

While many of us
Being more aware of social distancing now always helps to calm our minds
we can see visual markers that tell us where to stand or sit.

Whether in elevators, cafeteria, prayer rooms or meeting rooms, boxing areas according to standard measures of social distancing with something as simple as a treadmill would be enough to help .

ten) Limit access to frequent shared spaces

We all love our office pantries and need our toilets, and being aware of this, some companies have imposed certain measures to reduce traffic in these areas.

At Sunway, only 2 employees can enter the pantry and the bathroom simultaneously, while Nestlé Malaysia limits the number of sinks and stations in the bathrooms.

For Protemp and DoctorOnCall, only one employee can enter the pantry at a time. No more cold cats for now.

Eleven) Tighter guidelines for meetings

The meeting rooms are
naturally places where people congregate and sometimes spend long hours,
Some companies have imposed certain security directives:

• MaGIC has an approval process to determine whether physical meetings should take place and is governed by its CEO or Vice President of Human Resources. They also have a limit of 10 people in the meeting rooms.
• If a meeting at Nestlé Malaysia requires more than 10 people, they will need the approval of their CEO.
• DoctorOnCall has a maximum of 3 employees in a meeting, and they hold short meetings, until they stack and remove their chairs from the meeting rooms.
• In Ejen2u, since they are already distributed between the rooms, they will use Zoom to hold their meetings, even if they are in the office at the same time. It also allows your WFH employees to join the conversation.

12) Restrict visitors unless necessary

Most companies
we say we do not allow visitors to enter their offices for
moment, but Sunway will only accept them if absolutely necessary.

Therefore, any visitor on your part must complete a declaration form 48 hours before the visit, and will be asked to wear face masks and respect social distance at all times.

They don't allow dating, and it's something I think every business should adopt, even with contact tracing efforts.

13) Rules for getting food

Sunway really developed
their own online and mobile application booking system for their cafeteria, so that employees
they have to use this system to order their food, and they will pay with
electronic wallets or debit cards. Dinners are always limited.

At Ejen2u, they keep
things are simpler send an employee to bring food for everyone, or
opt for food delivery.

Conclusion: Depending on the office culture you know, some of these measures may seem a bit drastic (to me, that would be how DoctorOnCall removes the chairs from the meeting room), but I understand why it is better to be too careful and strict in the beginning. After all, you can always monitor the effectiveness of these measures and make adjustments later.