The Indian government has drafted fresh directives pertaining to safety and hygiene of workers employed by Amazon, Flipkart and other e-commerce companies.
Making the chief operating officer (COO) of firms responsible for the implementation of social distancing and sanitisation norms, the government will also hold the management responsible for educating and communicating the requirements of SOP (Standard Operating Procedures) to all stakeholders.
"The purpose of this SOP is to provide health and safety guidance for cleaning, maintaining hygiene and safety at the workplace during a pandemic outbreak across the supply chain, including First Mile Sellers," according to the draft norms, accessed by PTI.
It also mandated that the staff must compulsorily download the Aarogya Setu app. Various other measures were also proposed in the draft SOP for e-commerce operations during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The draft SOP mandates screening of staffers at seller, warehousing and sale operations for Covid-19 symptoms (cough, sneezing, fever, breathing difficulty) at entry and immediate reporting to nearby hospital in case of any symptoms.
With the government allowing e-commerce companies to operate during the nationwide lockdown, such an SOP, formulated and circulated to stakeholders is crucial in preventing the pandemic from gaining more ground.
“In the event of any staff turning out to be positive for COVID-19, the entire facility shall be immediately evacuated and all assets shall be covered and isolated. It is mandatory for all staff and business owners to download and register on the Aarogya Setu application and if applicable on the Suraksha Store app also," it said.
A logbook must be maintained for every employee and visitor accessing the premises.
"The management is responsible for safekeeping of such logbooks and forms with detailed information of such visitors, such as name, age, address (current and permanent), proof of residence, mobile number, among others)," the draft SOP stated.
