The Emergency Operations Center Task Force (EOC-TF) is closely monitoring the return to onsite operation of business process outsourcing (BPO) firm Transcom this coming Monday after it started to strictly comply with health and safety protocols.
The firm’s Bacolod site was shut down by the City Legal Office on Feb. 2 and 3 for decontamination after 41 of its employees tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
Dr. Chris Sorongon, deputy for medical data and analysis, said on Friday that the company is now 80 to 85 percent compliant based on their site inspection.
Changes have been implemented, including the use of the city’s BaCTrac contact tracing system, he added. “It’s now up and running,” Sorongon said.
On Thursday, Transcom’s top executives said they were unaware that the use of BaCTrac System was mandatory, the reason why they were unable to register.
“I don’t believe that we have received an official ordinance and to the best of our knowledge we were under an impression that it was voluntary, not mandatory,” Transcom Worldwide Chief Executive Officer for Global English Region Mark Lyndsell said in a press briefing.
Sorongon dismissed the claim, saying their representative attended the meeting on the BaCTrac system implementation in October last year.
He added that notice of violation issued to Transcom was just a form of reminder and no fine was imposed on the company.
Major recommendations of the EOC-TF included the installation of a high-efficiency particulate air filter, exhaust fan, and air purifier to improve the air circulation within the call center facility.
On Saturday, the EOC-TF will conduct a repeat swabbing of the employees who tested negative for Covid-19 during the recent surveillance testing participated by 598 workers.
Once they yield another negative result expected to come out on Sunday, these employees can then report to work on Monday, Sorongon said.
For now, Transcom targets only 121 of its onsite employees to return to work, after it earlier increased to 95 percent its offsite or work-from-home operations.
(Nanette Guadalquiver via Philippine News Agency (PNA), photo courtesy of PNA)
