GEORGE TOWN - By the time Covid-19 becomes endemic, Penangites will be equipped with a set of best practices to ensure they are healthy and safe.
The country is expected to enter the endemic phase when it reaches herd immunity by year-end.
The best practises are an initiative to ensure better compliance of standard operating procedures (SOPs) and to incorporate the latest tech features to fight Covid-19.
Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, in a special Zoom meeting said that the best practices which were developed in collaboration with several government agencies, will supplement the SOPs under the National Security Council (NSC).
Besides the basic tenets of wearing face masks, hand hygiene and physical distancing, the best practises will also incorporate more in-house awareness programmes and teach factories to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) on how to best comply with these practices.
There are also provisions for the type of equipment which can be installed to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Chow said that in this prolonged battle against Covid-19, Penang has been facing a surge of infections in recent weeks.
With 70% of Penang’s cases attributed to workplace clusters, especially from the industrial sector, it is particularly challenging to ensure that the state remains as the country’s leading electrical & electronics (E&E) hub.
Penang is best known as home to many industrial heavyweights, but the presence of SMEs is undoubtedly the backbone of the E&E industry.
This is a catalytic sector that cuts across many industries, particularly in producing parts and components for medical devices, enterprise storage, cloud computing and other technological innovation, said Chow.
Against this background, Penang Trade, Industry and Entrepreneurial Development Committee chairman Datuk Abdul Halim Hussain has tied up with the Collaborative Research in Engineering, Science and Technology (Crest) to create management best practice SOPs.
It is based on procedures undertaken by Crest member companies, and this collaboration can be a point of reference for SMEs to operate safely and optimally.
Present at the Zoom meeting were deputy state secretary (management) Ahmad Rizal Mohd Hanapiah, Crest chief executive officer Jaffri Ibrahim, Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) Penang director Jegan Subramaniam, Crest technology and industry director Fouzun Naseer, Osram Opto Semiconductors research & development director David Lacey and Clarion (M) Sdn Bhd managing director T. K. Tan.
Crest is also the leading agency for a focus group set up to monitor the adoption of the best practises in the state’s industrial sector.
It offers technical assistance to SMEs with the aim of reducing risks of infections. – The Vibes, September 6, 2021
