MANILA, Philippines – Crowded malls and packed offices. These are scenarios we want to avoid as the government eases varying quarantine measures nationwide. What can businesses do to control crowds in their spaces?
More than two months after lockdowns were enforced across the Philippines to combat the coronavirus pandemic, several businesses started to partially reopen.
In a bid to help the economy, manufacturers, non-leisure shops, and other select industries are now allowed to operate both under modified enhanced community quarantine and general community quarantine. (READ: Non-leisure mall shops, other workplaces can partially reopen under modified ECQ)
While they are allowed to partially reopen, businesses must ensure the safety of their customers and employees. (READ: Safety measures, rules as malls reopen on May 16)
One of the safety measures a business could employ during the pandemic is the application of crowd management principles. (READ: Remulla orders Cavite malls closed for failing to ensure physical distancing)
Martin Aguda Jr, an event management consultant, suggested several tips that businesses can follow to ensure crowd management and physical distancing during the coronavirus crisis.
Aguda said the implementation of crowd management should focus on three Es: engineering, education, and enforcement.
Here are some tips to avoid overcrowding in your establishments during the coronavirus pandemic:
Reduce the number of people attending meetings or gatherings. Physical distancing is challenging to implement in large groups.
Develop a queuing or an ingress plan to consider the "new normal" procedures such as thermal checks and hand sanitation, among other measures. Factors including additional space requirements for a spillover crowd, as well as facility configuration and waiting time, should also be kept in mind.
Designate separate entrance and exit points to establish better control.
Install visually appealing posters and signs to remind people of physical distancing rules.
Use non-slip floor decals, paint, or tapes as visual cues to help people see how far apart they should be standing in a queue.
Deploy physical barriers (stanchions, retractable barriers, cones) to aid crowd management at ingress points.
Display a safe occupancy load poster at the entrance of every establishment or room, using the adjusted physical distancing occupancy load computation.
Implement a one-out, one-in scheme to control people at entrances once the establishment reaches the physical distancing occupant capacity.
Designate a one-way flow in heavy traffic areas, tight spaces, and bottlenecks such as hallways, stairwells, and toilets.
Utilize technology. CCTV surveillance will help monitor the queuing lines and gathering of people. The use of a virtual queuing system will aid in physical distancing, preventing crowding and reducing physical touchpoints.
– Rappler.com