As office workers return to their desks, commercial landlords in the Cape Town CBD are spearheading a drive to create a “Covid barrier” by encouraging service staff, tenants and contractors to vaccinate against Covid-19.
Boxwood Property Fund – which has a R2-billion commercial and industrial property portfolio in Cape Town and KwaZulu-Natal – is leading the drive to get its 100 staff and more than 400 contractors (ranging from property and building managers to handymen, security officers and cleaners) vaccinated.
The company is aiming to create a “safety barrier between employees’ homes and office working tenants”. In a bid to boost the vaccination drive, Boxwood has offered its staff time off work to get vaccinated and is holding prize-winning lucky draws for staff who have been vaccinated.
Says Boxwood CEO Rob Kane: “We have a pharmacy tenant in our portfolio with a vaccination clinic, so we could made appointments for our staff. Another tenant requested to use a vacant space to create a vaccination room for their staff, and our service providers have booked appointments through this venture, too.
Workers in the CBD can visit the Vaccination Centre of Hope at the CTICC.
DEBUNKING VACCINE MYTHS
Kane says Boxwood has held talks with tenants “at length” about educating staff, with the aim of debunking the myths around the vaccine. This had been well received, as tenants were keen to encourage more of their own staff to return to the office.
“In the long term, having staff who are vaccinated affects the bottom line of our tenants, it saves them the downtime of having staff members booked off ill and therefore drives up business productivity. If all landlords take a similar approach, it will serve to create safer office environments and a safer building community.”
Following the property fund’s request to service providers in their portfolio, Essential Cleaning Services has presented toolbox talks to staff on Boxwood sites. Says Natalie van Niekerk, Essential Cleaning’s Health and Safety Representative: “After we did a survey, we realised that some staff were nervous about being vaccinated, so we came with a strategy on how to explain the facts and myths to the staff. Since then, many team members have been vaccinated.”
Two Lufthansa German Airline Companies – Boxwood tenants – have held a vaccination drive for staff, and shared appointments with the portfolio’s service providers and staff.
Kane, in his position as chairman of the Cape Town Central City Improvement District, said he was talking to his fellow property owners and landlords to follow suit, as vaccination would “reduce the risk from occupants in offices and restaurants”.
While Boxwood hasn’t made vaccination mandatory for its employees, it plans to continue using education and fact-based material to get the message across. “So far it’s working well,” Kane says.
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IMAGES: CCID