ESIC issues guidelines against Covid-19

Ravi S Singh

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September  29

Keeping up vigil against Covid-19, the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), Ministry of Labour and Employment, on Tuesday issued safe workplace guidelines for industry and other establishments.

The guidelines are a compendium of dos and don'ts in the form  of a booklet which was jointly released by Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and Labour Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar.

"The guidelines have been prepared as a comprehensive planning guidance for employers and workers to use it to help identify risk levels of Covid-19 at individual workplace settings in their premises and to determine appropriate control measures," said a Labour Ministry official.

The guidelines, prepared in consultation with the NITI Ayog, are primarily  based on infection control measures like respiratory hygiene.

Also, it details the structural and administrative measures and HR policies that can be used to control the spread of contagion at the workplace.

Guidance for the assessment, categorisation and mitigation of risk related to varied work related exposures to Covid-19 and contingency plan has also been provided in the guidelines.

Isolation and management of sickness at the workplace has been dealt with in detail. 

Prescriptive cautions with regard to social behavior have also been incorporated  for all the stakeholders in the guidelines.

The social behaviour include wearing face mask, hand washing, cough etiquette, social distancing, and frequent cleaning and sanitisation of workplace.

In order to drive home the importance of the guidelines, office bearers of industry/establishment associations, trade unions and representatives of state governments, among others, joined the release online across the country.

Speaking on the occasion, Harsh Vardhan highlighted the importance of the guidelines and urged industries and establishments to adhere to the safety guidelines issued, and to make necessary changes at workplaces and process accordingly to maintain continuity in business activities while  keeping workforce safe.