General Sanitation and Hygiene Advisory for Premises Owners and Operators

Revised on 24 Sep 2021
Last revised on 22 May 2021
First release on 31 January 2020

The National Environment Agency (NEA) urges premises owners and operators to maintain high standards of sanitation and personal hygiene to continue to minimise the transmission of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) virus.

Premises owners and operators are expected to implement the following good practices:

a) Personal Hygiene

Personnel working within the premises should be regularly reminded to:
1. Monitor their health.
2. Report to their supervisors, see a doctor and stay away from fellow colleagues if they are unwell.
3. Wear a mask in accordance with prevailing regulations.
4. Cover their mouths with tissue paper when coughing or sneezing, and dispose of the soiled tissue paper in the rubbish bin immediately. Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water.
5. Practise good toilet habits (e.g. flush toilets after use).
6. Practise good personal hygiene (e.g. wash hands with soap and water before and after meals, after handling refuse or other dirty items, and after visiting the toilet).
7. Sanitise their hands after contact with frequently touched areas.
8. Refrain from touching their exposed body parts such as eyes, nose, face, and arms with soiled gloves or unwashed/unsanitised hands.

b) Housekeeping / Refuse Management

1. Periodically review the cleaning regime and step-up on cleaning and disinfection of frequently touched areas.
2. Assign a team of staff to carry out enhanced cleaning and housekeeping daily. Disinfect with disinfectant regularly, frequently touched areas such as handrails, lift surfaces and buttons, door knobs/handles, letter boxes, notice boards, digital displays, touch screen panels and tables and chairs in the common areas.

3. Provide hand sanitisers at high human traffic points.

4. Ensure refuse bins are covered at all times and cleared daily. Tie refuse contained in plastic bags properly before disposal at the bin centre.
5. Clean up immediately any refuse spillage.
6. Wash and disinfect all refuse bins, bin chambers and bin centres where necessary.
7. Engage licensed waste contractors to remove refuse daily.

Cleaning staff are expected to:
1. Soak cleaning cloths in household bleach at the proper concentration according to manufacturer's instructions and wash the cloth after use or before reuse.
2. Clean and disinfect all cleaning equipment immediately after use.

c) Toilets

1. Disinfect frequently touched areas such as water taps, door/towel/cistern handles, seats and cover flaps, wash basins, doorknobs, buttons and switches with disinfectant regularly.
2. Provide adequate supply of toilet paper, paper towels (if provided) or hand dryers and liquid soap at all times. Where feasible, provide disinfectant, preferably dispensed through a no-touch mechanism for each toilet cubicle for users to clean toilet seats before and after use.
3. Ensure toilet-flushing apparatus is functioning at all times.
4. Ensure all sanitary pipes and fittings are in good working condition, and water seal are not dried-out.

5. Ensure that contact information for toilet users to give feedback is easily accessible.
6. Keep exhaust fans running for longer operating hours at full capacity.
7. Use floor blowers to dry the toilet floors only when the toilets are closed from public usage.
8. Allow tap water to run longer to minimise the need for users to press on the tap multiple times.
9. Ensure adequate ventilation in toilets or use air purifier, if possible. Please refer to the ‘Guidance Note on Building Air-Conditioning and Mechanical Ventilation (AMCV) Operations Amid COVID-19 Situation’ on BCA’s website.
10. Install one way valve lid over gully traps, if possible.

d) Pest Control Programme

1. Check the premises daily and remove all potential vector breeding sites.
2. Look out for signs of pest infestation such as rat droppings or burrows and cockroach droppings.
3. Engage a registered vector control operator to implement a pest control programme for the premises.

Premises owners or operators of specific sectors may download the relevant advisory using the link below.

Advisory for Airport Operator

Advisory for Construction Sites

Advisory for Dormitories

Advisory for Ferry Terminal Operators

Advisory for Town Councils

Advisory for Hotel Operators

Advisory for Markets & Hawker Centres

Advisory for Food Establishments (English), (Chinese), (Malay), (Tamil)

Advisory for Preschools

Advisory for Schools

Advisory for Sports Facilities