The COVID-19 pandemic unleashed a host of challenges for all industries and caused a worldwide disruption in supply chains. As governments imposed lockdowns with immediate effect to curb the spread of COVID-19, the challenge was to continue the movement of essential goods and enable related businesses to operate. Warehouses, being an essential component of the supply chain, needed to stay operational amid the lockdown to ensure businesses could continue operations in a safe manner.
For IndoSpace, this meant making our employees’ safety and well-being our topmost priority by implementing appropriate COVID-19 safety measures at all our industrial and logistics parks. Please watch the following video which shows our facility management team going the extra mile to ensure business continuity during the pandemic.
Enabling business continuity and safety during COVID-19
Our alliance with GLP, one of the world’s largest developers and a global investment manager of logistics real estate, helped us gain timely insights from international markets. We initiated pre-emptive steps and followed international best practices in safety.
Early on, we ensured safe working conditions and infection-free sites for our tenants and employees, and seamless operations at our industrial and logistics parks, with the launch of ‘IS GOLIVE’ – IndoSpace’s Business Continuity initiative.
For ‘IS GOLIVE’, we formulated a list of guidelines for tenants, along with general dos and don’ts to be followed at IndoSpace parks. The guidelines pertain to three main areas – at the park entrance, within the park, and in the premises for each of the three entities (tenant employees, visitors / vendors, and trucks / truck drivers). We also rolled out a list of guidelines outlining the steps to be taken if a person develops COVID-19 symptoms.
In addition, a dedicated GOLIVE team has been set up to help businesses continue smooth operations and answer all queries about our business continuity measures.
IS GOLIVE’s list of COVID-19 safety infrastructure and guidelines
The business continuity initiative we have incorporated at our parks is a combination of employee training, zero-contact technology, medical aid, information sharing and updated security protocols. We believe that it is imperative for all these to work in tandem for creating the requisite safe working conditions at our industrial and logistics parks.
Listed here are the ways in which we are helping businesses continue their operations in a safe manner:
Sanitisation and infection-free sites
Inbound trucks are sanitised using sodium hypochlorite, and common areas are regularly disinfected and sanitised.
Behavioural change and updated Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
To begin with, all visitors to our parks are required to share a self-declaration on health and travel history. In addition, we have updated our SOPs to incorporate appropriate measures to ensure safety during a pandemic. For example, we have made the use of masks mandatory for everyone in the parks, along with the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) by IndoSpace employees. We have also discontinued the use of biometric systems for attendance and instituted social distancing protocols in all common areas such as park entrances, elevators, canteens, and washrooms to curb the spread of the virus.
No-contact technology
All security cabins have been equipped with temperature guns for daily screening and we have implemented Contactless Visitor Management Systems (CVMS) to help track vehicles / visitors / employees entering and exiting our parks. Our contact-less operations extend to elevators and we have also set up foot-operated hand-wash facilities in all our parks.
Medical aid and training
An Isolation Centre has been set up at each facility where employees showing COVID-19 symptoms can be isolated. We have also arranged for 24×7 ambulance and paramedic services, along with tie-ups with local hospitals for any medical emergencies that arise. In addition to these, we are also conducting regular training on COVID-19 safety measures at our parks and facilitating recall among park users with posters, standees etc. that reiterate these safety measures.
Staying connected and informed
As a part of our IS GOLIVE initiative, we have also rolled out the IS GOLIVE Tenant Communication App. This app is designed to help our employees and Clients stay more connected during these tough times. It is a repository of important information on our park SOPs, periodic updates to our safety measures as per government guidelines, FAQs, and other useful tips.
Our early response to the pandemic, and continuous upgrading of safety measures, has ensured smooth operations for our Clients during the lockdown phase in a safe manner. We are now not only equipped to operate smoothly during the Covid-19 pandemic but are also striving to help our tenant partners lead in the new normal.
