Safety First!

by: Carlo Rivera, Communication Program Chair

Last November 9, 2020, Thames International held the first part of a webinar on Sustainable Safe Operations. The webinar, attended by participants from fields ranging from Food and Beverage to Supply Chain to Manufacturing, was intended to familiarize local business leaders with Singaporean best practices for safely running a business during a pandemic.

Business leaders had considerable incentive to implement these best practices; it is rapidly becoming clear that even after lockdowns are lifted, customers are being very cautious about patronizing businesses again – a death sentence for a company if it goes on too long. Customers in 2020 are driven by fear; a full two thirds of consumers plan to avoid public places even after the lockdowns are over. In support of DTI’s objective to help bring back consumer confidence, Thames, in partnership with Accelebator, a Singaporean consultancy firm, held this webinar in support of the institutionalization of Safe Management Practices.

After an introduction from Thames professor Adolf Aran, guest speaker Desmond Lee of Singapore gave a comprehensive briefing on Covid-19, the requirements of safe management measures for the tourism industry, the roles and responsibilities of a Safety Management Officer, the implementation of Safe Management Measures, and record keeping thereof. Thames and Accelabator have concluded that the public needs information, trust, evidence, and future proofing before consumer confidence returns. After a call to care for employees and care for workspaces, Lee took questions from the audience, allowing for more adaptation of his tools to the Philippine context.

Part two of the webinar, held the day after, was split into two clusters, one for F&B, Retail, Accommodation, Hospitality, and Travel, and another one for Construction, Real Estate, Logistics, Supply Chain, and Manufacturing. In the former, Adolf Aran shared Singaporean best practices, demonstrating how every restaurant was taking measures to be demonstrably safe for the public, and then shared DTI’s guidelines and case studies on local businesses. In the second cluster, Jun Fuentebella spearheaded a workshop on developing organizational safety plans, each tailored to the participants’ organizations.

With over 50 million Covid deaths worldwide, over 7,000 of which are in the Philippines, the goal is to inspire confidence in both business leaders and consumers that the pandemic can be beaten without jeopardizing the economy that holds everyone up.

Thames International is committed to building a new order for the world by giving talented students and entrepreneurs the tools to thrive and lead the way in a world beset by rapid change. If you’re interested in augmenting your skills and making connections with some of the brightest minds in business education today, please take a look at our future-proof undergraduate and postgraduate programs.