In a decision that was taken to ensure the safety of staff and public at the various Sizakala Customer Service Centres during the Covid-19 pandemic, members of the public have been warned against wearing certain face masks at Sizakala centres.
Head of the Sizakala Centres Unit, Mavuso Tshabalala, said only certain types of masks such as surgical, dust; three ply cloth and N95 were allowed at customer services. Other masks including buffs, neck gaiters, bandanas, cloth masks with vents and N95 masks with vents are not allowed. “Only certain types of face masks are allowed to be worn by the public at our centres. This is in line with Version 06 of Covid Guidelines as approved by the Executive Management Committee on 19 October 2020. These guidelines are informed by the national guidelines. We have placed signs outlining which masks are acceptable at all our centres,” said Tshabalala.
Tshabalala said the guidelines were drawn from the Department of Employment and Labour’s report – Consolidated Direction on Occupational Health and Safety Workplace Measures. The report states that an employer has the responsibility to create an environment that is safe for their staff. This includes measures to protect workers from being exposed to the virus through their interaction with the public and vice versa. The municipality has adopted the revised guidelines by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition that is aimed at providing a set of recommendations for the South African clothing and textile industry when making masks for use by the general public. These guidelines specify that masks with breathing valves and vents on cloth masks and neck buffs should not be worn as a preventative method as they offer little or no support in preventing respiratory droplets. Members of the public are kindly requested to comply by wearing the suitable masks when visiting Sizakala Customer Service Centres.
