In view of some cases of condominium security staff or concierges catching COVID-19 in Taiwan, apartment block residents and managers should be vigilant, and set about instituting contactless shift handovers and contactless services.
If a condominium security guard appears to have caught COVID-19, they must seek immediate medical attention.
Furthermore, if a guard is confirmed to have caught the coronavirus, their colleagues who worked the shifts before and after them must also isolate themselves in their homes.
BACKUP STAFF
However, when that happens, the whole security team would be unable to go to work.
A security guard might only seem to have a mild cold, but if they have a fever or start coughing, the management committee should tell them to stop working to avoid scaring the residents.
The committee should then appoint a reserve guard to work in their place.
Security guards must not work while sick, so arranging backup guards is an urgent and important task.
CONTACTLESS SHIFTS
Apart from backup staff, community and apartment block managers should also institute contactless shift handovers, so that workers leaving and arriving for their shifts do not have to see each other or come into direct contact.
A security guard whose shift is ending can leave after disinfecting the workspace, and the one on the next shift can come in five minutes later.
The two guards can use smart devices to keep track of handover tasks and objects, thus reducing contact and minimizing the chance of infection.
When instituting contactless shift handovers, condominiums must make new arrangements for handing over information and objects. They can use smart devices and communication software, and service staff would need to be taught how to comply with and implement the new arrangements.
AVOIDANCE TACTIC
Condominiums should also adopt contactless services to reduce contact between delivery couriers, service personnel and residents.
If a condominium is big and spacious enough, it could sign a contract with an operator to install smart lockers at the entrance. Then couriers would not have to deliver items via a security guard. They could place items directly in a smart locker and then send a password for the recipient to collect the delivery in person.
If the available space is not big enough or appropriate for installing smart lockers, the second-best option would be to buy lockers with combination locks.
Receptionists could then place registered parcels in the lockers after receiving them on residents’ behalf.
After setting the combinations, they could issue residents with locker numbers and combinations, so that residents could collect items without making human contact.
If it is not possible to install lockers with combination locks, condominium managers could at least buy a pigeonhole cabinet, so that when residents call the reception desk to say that they are coming to collect things, the receptionist can place the letters or objects in a particular pigeonhole and tell the resident which number pigeonhole they are in.
When residents collect their things, they could sign a form attached to the pigeonhole cabinet. The receptionist could wait until the resident has left before collecting the form, thus avoiding or reducing the contact they have with each other.
Zou Ho-le is a condominium administration consultant.
Translated by Julian Clegg
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