Singapore outlines tips for safer post-pandemic workplaces

Singapore has started to plan for how offices will look and operate in the post Covid-19 era, signaling its intent to get one of the world’s key financial hubs fully back to business with new technology and safer workplaces.

Adopting more touch-free technology, motion sensors, facial recognition systems and spilt-team work operations were just some of the recommendations in a study commissioned by the city-state’s banking association and its central bank, which was published on Tuesday (March 23).

Financial institutions were encouraged to use air-conditioners with special filters to limit the transmission of aerosols and droplets, as well as installing automated thermal screening and face mask detection systems to provide a “first line of defence” against viruses.

It also recommends the stockpiling of certain medical supplies, greater spaces between workstations, flexible work arrangements, more voice-activated controls, and for reviews of office cleaning protocols.

“MAS encourages our financial institutions to consider the recommended strategies in the playbook to enhance safety and resiliency in the workplace,” Ong Chong Tee, Deputy Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, said in a statement.

The report was carried out by real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield with input from some of Singapore’s biggest banks and other international lenders in the city-state.

Singapore is an Asian finance hub home to the regional headquarters of many banks and international businesses.

Though it has not been hard hit by the coronavirus, everyday operations were disrupted and many employees have been working from home during the pandemic.