Safe@Work allows colleagues of Covid-19 patients to continue working
KUALA LUMPUR: The Safe@Work initiative, announced by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on Wednesday, will enable co-workers of Covid-19 patients to continue working in a new protocol known as Safe@Work Bubble.
Senior International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali said this initiative would also prevent disruptions to operations and reduce the impact on productivity when a case emerged among workers.
“Workers identified as close contacts will be isolated from the community and other workers until all of them are certified safe from Covid-19 based on their (health) screenings.
“With the Safe@Work Bubble, all close contacts will be placed at a hostel away from other colleagues and can continue to go to work until their test results are
out,” he said yesterday.
Azmin said 194 clusters in the country were linked to the manufacturing sector, adding that the ministry was taking a proactive and responsive approach to ensure operational continuity.
He said the responsibility for creating a bubble between the workplace and workers’ hostel, as well as ensuring that the movement of close-contact workers was safe and did not affect others, fell on the company’s management.
The initiative also included the establishment of a Preparedness and Emergency Response Team by the company for the preparation and implementation of procedures to manage emergency cases, as well as ensuring compliance with standard operating procedures (SOP), performing regular monitoring and audit.
The companies must conduct continuous sanitisation at their factories, use company vehicles to ferry workers at full capacity, and provide and manage a conducive workers’ hostel in line with the Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990.
“(Other aspects include) conducting targeted screening for relevant workers in the manufacturing and service sectors, and providing information channels related to pandemic control procedures from employers to employees.”
He said that as an incentive for employers to implement Safe@ Work, additional tax cuts for those in the manufacturing and service sectors would be given for premises and workers’ hostel rentals, and on equipment such as installation of closed-circuit television cameras, wearable tracking devices and other needs as required by the Safe@Work SOP.
Expenses eligible for this tax deduction would be limited to RM50,000 per company, he added.
“The ministry hopes that with these initiatives, companies in the manufacturing and service industries will increase their SOP compliance to ensure that their factories can operate.
“This is also in line with the Whole-Of-Society approach to foster a spirit of self-reliance and responsibility in society.”
He added it was important that industries realised their role and responsibilities to help achieve the government’s aim of balancing the demands of safety, lives and economic sustainability.
Companies could apply to be part of Safe@Work through the Covid-19 Intelligent Management System starting on April 1.
Muhyiddin announced the launch of the initiative during a televised address to unveil the Strategic Programme to Empower the People and Economy (Pemerkasa).
This programme is an initiative under Focus One of Pemerkasa, which is aimed at controlling the spread of Covid-19.