Lyna Mohamad
Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD) became the first bank in the Sultanate to be certified as having a workplace that is ready to address and respond to situations related to COVID-19.
Ten staff from BIBD recently completed a training that provided them with the knowledge and skills to respond to matters involving COVID-19 situations at workplace.
The objective of the training, held on March 16 and conducted by the Brunei Red Crescent (BRC), was to equip the participants with important knowledge and to ensure readiness in providing first aid response when handling health, safety, security and environment (HSSE) issues in relation to COVID-19 situations at the workplace.
The training helped educate participants with the knowledge and skills in managing workplace’s safety and hygiene as well as the well-being of the bank’s employees during the pandemic.
The staff were also trained on how to monitor the activities and movements of BIBD employees to ensure the bank and its employees strictly comply to the national level of regulations and governance set by key ministries in relation to COVID-19.
The modules for this training were developed by the Brunei national society under the purview of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) flagship through BRC’s Global First Aid Reference Centre in Paris.
These modules are in line with the standard that is provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) adhering to the facts and Standard Operation Procedures of WHO Guidelines and Global First Aid Reference Centre (GFARC).
To date, BIBD is the only organisation from the banking industry in Brunei accredited by BRC as ‘COVID-19 Workplace Ready’ and to receive the international certification for it.
A certificate presentation ceremony was held at the BIBD Headquarters yesterday.
Present at the event was the Managing Director and CEO of BIBD, Mubashar Khokhar, who represented the bank in accepting the accreditation certificate from the BRC President Haji Muhammad Suhaimi bin Haji Ibrahim.
The participants were also presented with certificates. Also present were BIBD Deputy Managing Director Hajah Noraini binti Haji Sulaiman and the bank’s management team as well as senior officers from BRC.
In Brunei, BRC (through the BRC Academy) has trained and certified stakeholders such as Royal Brunei, Brunei Asia Pacific Shell Learning Hub (BAPSLH) and Ashcore Sdn Bhd, in First Aid Response and Occupational Safety Training.
In February 2020, BIBD and BRC signed an Agreement of Understanding to develop bilateral cooperation in relation to First Aid Response and Occupational Safety Training programmes for bank employees.