Panchshil Realty's office portfolio first in APAC to meet British Safety Council's global benchmarks for COVID-19 related control measures

Pune (Maharashtra) [India] Aug 4 (ANI/PRNewswire): Panchshil Realty and British Safety Council today announced a new milestone in workplace safety in the corporate real estate sector in India in the context of COVID-19 and safe return to work.
Panchshil Realty has become the first and only real estate group in India and in the entire Asia-Pacific Region to have benchmarked and independently validated its COVID-19 related control measures at its workplaces, against stringent global safety standards as laid down by the British Safety Council.
Following a rigorous auditing process, the British Safety Council's Assurance Statement confirms that at the time of the audit, Panchshil Realty has implemented, proper and adequate policies, procedures, and arrangements relating to control of COVID-19 within the workplace, across 15 million square feet of its office parks portfolio.
Panchshil Realty's office portfolio in Pune comprises landmark projects like EON Free Zone, World Trade Centre, Business Bay, and the International Convention Centre, and its campuses are home to leading global corporations like Allianz, Citibank, Cognizant, Concentrix, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, MasterCard, Michelin, T-Systems, UBS, VMWare and Vodafone among many others.
"Panchshil Realty's senior leadership has demonstrated commitment to manage, prevent, and control transmission of COVID-19 and ensure the safe return of employees and tenants to their respective workplaces on the lifting of the lockdown. Proper health and safety measures commensurate with the nature and scale of operational activities were put in place as early as March 2020, even before the nationwide lockdown was announced," said the British Safety Council's Assurance Assessment.
"Panchshil has demonstrated suitably effective management of COVID-19 related risks within the workplace and associated operational activities which are in accordance with the Indian government and British Safety Council guidelines," it added.
"In the midst of this unprecedented pandemic, the health and wellbeing of our staff, associates and allied stakeholders is our priority. Amongst the more than twenty-four steps taken by us, notable measures include making suitable physical adjustments to our facilities and workplaces in respect of access, egress, emergency event management, PPE, cleaning regimes, use of elevators, movement and flow of persons within the premises, waste management, social distancing controls, welfare, hygiene controls and the like," said Vijitsingh Thopte, Vice President-Facility Management at Panchshil Realty.
British Safety Council guidance takes account of current good practice, including information from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare - Government of India guidelines, the World Health Organisation (WHO), The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
"As lockdowns have eased and more and more people have started returning to work it is right that workers and employers want to have confidence that every possible step has been taken to keep workplaces safe. With the COVID-19 Assurance Assessment, Panchshil Realty has shown that their protocols and associated control arrangements were in accordance with the current government and sector-specific guidelines at the time of the review and arrangements for continual monitoring of their effectiveness were in place," said Mike Robinson, CEO, British Safety Council congratulating Panchshil Realty for achieving a global safety benchmark.
British Safety Council's COVID-19 Assurance Assessment provides a framework for organizations to develop and implement robust and relevant protocols and arrangements designed to effectively manage the risk of transmission of COVID-19 as far as is reasonably practicable within their workplace.
The COVID-19 risk management processes undertaken included, assessing the risks, planning the control measures, allocating roles and responsibilities, implementing and maintaining controls, communication, and training, monitoring effectiveness, and reviewing and revising arrangements when necessary.
Since its foundation in 1957, the British Safety Council has campaigned tirelessly to protect workers from accidents, hazards and unsafe conditions, and played a decisive role in the process that has led to the adoption of landmark health and safety legislation. Its members in more than 60 countries are committed to protecting and improving the wellbeing of workers, believing that a healthy and safe work environment is also good for business.
Panchshil's Businesses - Key Highlights
* Panchshil Realty's total completed real estate portfolio is around 23 million square feet with another 20 million square feet under development.
* Panchshil Realty's three main business verticals comprise commercial office spaces, hospitality, and residential.
* A significant chunk of Panchshil Realty's office portfolio is anchored by Blackstone Real Estate Private Equity Fund, sponsored and managed by Blackstone Group LP.
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