DRAFT

OFFICE MEMORANDUM No. ___

Series of 2020

SUBJECT : INTERIM GUIDELINES ON FCSMO WORKPLACE and

WORKSTATION PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF COVID-
19

DATE : October 13, 2020

In order to standardize the observance of the minimum health protocols mandated by the Agency
pursuant to IATF Guidelines on the Implementation of Community Quarantine in the
Philippines2 and DOH Memo Circulars/Orders and to streamline the measures for the prevention
of virus transmission as well as the detection, investigation, confirmation, notification and the
proper handling of suspect, probable and confirmed cases including all close contacts in
accordance with pertinent provisions, this Office hereby promulgates the following policies:

I. RATIONALE

Due to the occurrence of several confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Flood Control and
Sewerage Management Office (FCSMO) adversely affecting the continuous discharge of
official functions and putting at risk the safety/health of employees, the issuance of this
Memorandum has become imperative.

II. SCOPE AND COVERAGE

This Memorandum shall apply to and cover ALL EMPLOYEES of the FCSMO regardless of
employment status, including those in the Field Operations Districts/Workstations and
private individuals / parties / visitors conducting official business with the Agency.

III. WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH

PREVENTION and REDUCTION OF COVID-19 LOCAL TRANSMISSION7

A. The following are the minimum public health standards to be complied with in all
workplaces at all times2:

1. Face Shields covering the entire face and Face Masks must be worn at all times
except during meal periods/snack time at short durations.

2. Physical Distancing of at least one (1) meter, or two (2) meters when possible shall be
observed at all times. This must be practiced in combination with the wearing of
masks and face shields.

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 3. The practice of proper hand washing and other hygiene behaviours among employees
is mandatory. These include hand washing with soap and water or the application of
alcohol-based disinfectants specifically, but not limited to the following instances:
i. before and after the handling of food or eating;
ii. after using the restroom;
iii. before and after taking off mask and face shield;
iv. after coming in contact with frequently-touched surfaces and objects (e.g.
door knobs, stair railings, elevator controls, etc.)
v. before and after touching of face mask and face shield

4. Employees are advised to conduct surface disinfection in their work stations before
the start of the shift, intermittently during shift and at the end of the shift.

5. Sharing/exchange of personal items between employees is discouraged to prevent

possible transmission. Employees are prohibited from taking their meals together
(sharing of tables) to maintain the required one (1) meter physical distancing.

6. These minimum health standards should be enforced in the agency/service vehicles

and shuttle services, i.e. use of face shields and face masks, observance of physical
distancing, and frequent disinfection. Employees inside the vehicles should avoid
talking to each other, taking phone calls, eating, removing their masks and shields.

B. Adequate ventilation should be strictly implemented in the following:

1. Inside the workplace – Natural air flow exchange (opening of windows and doors,
turning-off air conditioning units to reduce air circulation) is highly encouraged
whenever possible.

2. Inside the agency/service vehicles – the opening of windows, with at least three (3)
inches of opening, while in transit should be practiced whenever possible. The
observance of physical distancing of at least one (1) meter and wearing of face masks
and face shields shall be followed. Proper disinfection before and after each use of
the vehicle is likewise mandatory.

REDUCE CONTACT7
A. Restriction of mass gatherings
1. Depending on the risk classification of the workplace/workstation locality as defined
by IATF’s risk severity grading, this Office shall follow the restriction on mass
gatherings, that is, only 10% of seating capacity for meeting rooms in high/moderate
risk areas such as confined spaces and a maximum of 50% seating capacity for low
risk areas (e.g. open spaces).

2. Videoconferencing shall always be used for meetings requiring large attendance of

employees and/or meetings lasting longer than 15 minutes.

3. Staggered meal schedules shall be adopted when necessary to further restrict contact
among employees. Eating alone in the respective workstation is highly encouraged.

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 4. Employees shall, as much as practicable, minimize the duration of client transactions
to less than 15 minutes.

REDUCE DURATION OF INFECTION7

A. Detection
1. All employees and parties having transactions with the Office, upon entering the
building premises/workplaces shall be required to undergo a temperature check.

2. Outside parties/clients, in addition to the above, shall accomplish the Health

Declaration Form or any digital iteration thereof. The personnel in charge shall
immediately screen the accomplished form and file the same for purposes of contact
tracing should the need arises.

3. Symptomatic employees and parties/clients/visitors of the Office shall be directed

through, coordinated with, and referred to the Agency’s Medical Clinic for proper
handling and may be transported to the nearest health facility for RT-PCR testing if
necessary, as provided under the latest DOH interim guidelines (DOH Dept.
Memorandum 2020-00334).

IV. MANAGEMENT OF ASYMPTOMATIC AND SYMPTOMATIC EMPLOYEES 7

CONTACT TRACING
This Office adheres to the protocols established by the DOH and LGUs for contact tracing
of employees in close contact with a COVID-19 case, as specified in DOH Memorandum
No. 2020-0189 entitled, “Updated Guidelines on Contact Tracing of Close Contacts of
Confirmed Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Cases”

1. Per definition from the above DOH Memorandum, CLOSE CONTACT shall mean
employees with exposures two (2) days before or within 14 days from onset of
symptoms of a Suspect, Confirmed or Probable case 4. Exposure shall be any of the
following:
i. Face-to-face contact with a confirmed case within one (1) meter and for
more than fifteen (15) minutes, with or without a mask;
ii. Direct physical contact with a confirmed case; or
iii. Direct care for a patient with probable or confirmed COVID-19 disease
without using PPEs.

Contact tracing shall be initiated after case investigation of every reported COVID-
19 case, to include the following actions:
i. identify settings where the contacts have visited or social interactions
where the contacts have been exposed;

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 ii. identify all social, familial, work contacts who have had contact with a
confirmed case from 2 days before symptom onset of the case until the
time that said case tests negative on laboratory confirmation
iii. create a line list including demographic information and geographic
information at barangay levels, date of first and last exposure or date of
contact with the confirmed or probable case, and for symptomatic close
contacts, date of onset of fever, respiratory symptoms, or other
significant signs and symptoms.
iv. thoroughly document the common exposures and type of contact with
the confirmed probable case for any contact who become infected with
COVID-19.

2. Close contacts shall undergo a 14-day quarantine period. They shall be required to
regularly report any development, including new symptoms. For symptomatic
employees, they shall update this Office regarding their COVID-19 test results from
an accredited testing facility.

3. Close contacts who remain asymptomatic for fourteen (14) days may return to work
without need for a test.

COVID-19 TESTING
1. All employees experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, and those who are close
contacts must undergo RT-PCR testing.

HOWEVER, indiscriminate testing beyond close contact of a confirmed COVID-19

case is not recommended6.

This Office through its authorized representative(s) shall inform the LGUs having
jurisdiction over the workplace and the respective residence/s of the symptomatic
employees and close contacts before testing for monitoring purposes.

2. Symptomatic employees with travel/exposure to COVID-19 shall undergo fourteen

(14) day-quarantine. Upon its completion and prior to resumption of work, they shall
present a Certificate of Quarantine Completion from the local health office, per
Philippine Society for Microbiology and Infectious Disease (PSMID) Guidelines on
Return-to-Work.

3. RT-PCR or antibody-based test is NOT recommended nor required for asymptomatic

employees returning to work.

4. Employees physically reporting to work shall be screened for COVID-19 symptoms,

including fever, cough, colds and other respiratory symptoms, and/or determination
of travel or exposure to COVID-19 cases within the last 14 days.

V. FCSMO SAFETY AND HEALTH COMMITTEE

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 An FCSMO Safety and Health Committee is hereby created to be composed of five (5)
members to be appointed by the Office of the Director which shall oversee the enforcement
and monitoring of the minimum public health standards for COVID-19 prevention in all
workplaces and workstations of this Office and these policies.

Monitoring shall include evaluation and analysis of the FCSMO’s implementation of the
minimum health standards and protocols to immediately address the spread of COVIC-19
in the workplace, if any, and recommend and implement appropriate preventive measures.

In case of findings of non-compliance with any of the provisions, the Safety and Health
Committee shall prepare a report incorporating therein its recommendations to be
submitted to the Office of the Director for its consideration and possible imposition of civil
and/or administrative sanctions when circumstances warrant, after due notice and hearing.

VI. NOTIFICATION AND REPORTING

A. Reporting of COVID-19 test results to the DOH shall be done in accordance with DOH
Administrative Order No. 2020-0013, entitled “Revised Guidelines for the Inclusion of
COVID-19 in the List of Notifiable Diseases for Mandatory Reporting to the Department
of Health.”

B. Even before testing, the Office through its Safety and Health Committee must report
COVID-19 positive employees, and their close contacts, to the local health office having
jurisdiction over the workplace and the Barangay Health Emergency Team (BHERT) of
their place of residence, in accordance with DOH DM No. 2020-0189.

For the guidance of all employees and individuals/parties conducting official business with
the Office, quoted hereunder is the pertinent legal provision, thus:

Section 9 of R.A. 11332 (Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and

Health Events of Public Concern) makes the following acts punishable: a)
non-cooperation of persons and entities that should report and/or respond
to notifiable diseases; and b) non-cooperation of the person or entities
identified as having the notifiable disease, or affected by the health event
of public concern. The same law provides that any person or entity
committing these prohibited acts shall be penalized with a fine of not less
than Twenty Thousand Pesos (P20,000.00) but not more than Fifty
Thousand Pesos (P50,000.00) or imprisonment of not less than Six (6)
Months, or both such fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the proper
court.1

C. The data privacy provisions under the Data Privacy Act of 2012, its IRR and DM
2020-0189 shall be strictly complied with to ensure that the data privacy rights of
patients/subjects are respected and protected.3

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VII. LEAVE OF ABSENCES AND ENTITLEMENTS

Use of leaves of absences and entitlements shall be governed by the pertinent rules and
regulations promulgated by the Civil Service Commission.

Hospitalization benefits of PhilHealth members, and Employees’ Compensation benefits

shall be based on PhilHealth rules and regulations, and Presidential Decree No. 626
entitled Employee’s Compensation and State Insurance Fund and its implementing rules
and regulations, respectively.

VIII. SEPARABILITY

If any provision of this Memorandum is declared void or the applicability thereof to any
person or circumstances is held invalid, the remainder shall not be affected thereby, and to
this end the provisions hereof are deemed severable which shall continue to remain in full
force and effect.

IX. REPEALING CLAUSE

All other circulars, issuances, rules and regulations inconsistent with this Memorandum are
hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

X. EFFECTIVITY

This Memorandum shall take effect immediately after due notice to all concerned.

For implementation and strict compliance.

BALTAZAR N. MELGAR
Director IV
__________________________________________________________________________________
Bibliography
1
R.A. No.11332, “Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Concern”
2
IATF Omnibus Guidelines on the Implementation of Community Quarantine in the Philippines
With Amendments as of July 16, 2020
3
DOH Department Memorandum No.2020-0189
4
DOH Administrative Order No.2020-0013
5
DOH Department Circular No.2020-0179
6
DOH Department Memorandum No.2020-0151
7
DOLE and DTI Joint Memorandum Circular No.20-04-A, Series of 2020