Health protocol manual for workers accommodation updated in Saudi Arabia

RIYADH — The Saudi Center for Disease Prevention and Control (Weqaya) has updated the health protocol manual for workers’ accommodation as part of its efforts to stem the spread of coronavirus. The manual includes procedures for epidemiological surveillance, prevention and safety, and health awareness and education.

As part of the protocols, the workers’ accommodations must have surveillance cameras to monitor their movement and it must be manned by the sufficient number of security guards having designated places.

The updated requirements include a ban on visits of friends and relatives to workers ’accommodation, and designating an area to check all workers upon their entry and exit from their accommodation. The manual also requires those responsible for the accommodation to make arrangements to measure the temperature of all residents at least once a day.

The health regulations also include making available hand sanitizers in all rooms, toilets, and other areas of the housing, including entrance and passages. Awareness stickers and leaflets in the languages the workers know shall be placed in key areas of the accommodation including halls, entrances, and passages.

The protocols also call for making available of soaps for washing hands in toilets; the sterilization and cleaning of floors at regular intervals; new ventilation in bedrooms and sitting rooms; separate bedrooms or minimum four-square meter space between each worker in the common bedroom; medical isolation rooms for workers suspected of infection; a separate place for dumping garbage; and a contract with a specialized company to combat public health disasters.