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Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA)
Circulars

Updated Advisory for Safe Management Measures at Food & Beverage Establishments

29 September 2021

This article has been migrated from an earlier version of the site and may display formatting inconsistencies.

Who Should Know:
Mall developers, building owners, food & beverage business owners

Effective Date:
27 September 2021

This has been superseded by the latest advisory. Please refer to the

Circulars

 page.


  1. The Multi-Ministry Taskforce (MTF) has announced a tightening of Safe Management Measures (SMMs) to slow down current community transmissions and allow for better stability. These will take effect from 27 September through 24 October 2021, with measures to be reviewed two weeks after implementation.

  2. To provide a safe environment for customers and workers, food and beverage (F&B) establishments currently in operation must implementSafe Management Measures (SMMs), as required by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and comply with the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) (Control Order) Regulations.

  3. In addition, F&B establishments are required to comply with the measures set out by Enterprise Singapore (ESG), Housing & Development Board (HDB), Singapore Food Agency (SFA), Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) in this document. The information in this document supersedes that in previous advisories or statements.

Latest updates for F&B establishments

  1. F&B establishments are allowed to continue food service operations, with the exception of establishments with Pubs, Bars, Nightclubs, Discos and Karaoke SFA license categories or SSIC codes starting with 5613. F&B establishments that are allowed to operate must comply with the following:

    Vaccinated-differentiated SMMs

    1. From 27 September through 24 October 2021, F&B establishments are only permitted to seat dine-in groups of up to 2 persons, i.e. a decrease from groups of up to 5 persons allowed previously. Vaccination-differentiated SMMs must continue to be applied to such dine-in groups or individuals.

      1. Vaccination-differentiated SMMs apply only if all the customers meet any of the following criteria:

        • Fully vaccinated, i.e. has received the appropriate regimen of World Health Organisation Emergency Use Listing (WHO EUL) vaccines (e.g. Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty, Moderna, AstraZeneca-SKBio, Serum Institute of India, Janssen, Sinopharm, Sinovac-CoronaVac) including their respective duration post-vaccination for the vaccine to be fully effective and had their vaccination records captured in MOH’s national IT systems1; or

        • Recovered from COVID-19, i.e. less than 270 days of first positive Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test result obtained in Singapore, and can provide a valid Pre-Event Test (PET) exemption notice for the duration of his/her dine-in2 from an MOH-approved COVID-19 test provider; or

        • Have a valid negative PET result for the duration of his/her dine-in3 obtained from an MOH-approved COVID-19 test provider in the past 24 hours.

      2. Dine-in is not allowed if any individual within a group of up to 2 persons does not meet the eligibility criteria in 4.a.i. Allowing this would be an offence.

      3. Children aged 12 years and below who are unvaccinated are eligible for vaccination-differentiated SMMs and may be included in the group of up to 2 persons. If a group comprises 2 such children, both children must be from the same household. F&B establishments are to ensure that there is no mixing or mingling between different groups.

    2. F&B establishments may choose to introduce vaccination-differentiated SMMs depending on their operating model, clientele, and ability to check the status of individuals who dine-in. Otherwise, F&B establishments will only be allowed to operate take-away services.

      1. Refer to MOH’s information sheet for more details of the requirements on vaccination-differentiated SMMs.

      2. F&B establishments that implement vaccination-differentiated SMMs must appoint at least one employee (e.g. supervisor or front-of-house staff) who can conduct the verification checks on the eligibility status of each individual.

      3. The use of the SafeEntry (Business) App is strongly encouraged to facilitate dine-in eligibility checks for both TraceTogether App and Token users. The SafeEntry Gateway Box cannot be used to facilitate these checks.

      4. The F&B establishment must verify that each customer fulfils the eligibility requirements before SafeEntry check-in and allowing the group to dine in their establishments. For the full list of acceptable documents regarding eligibility checks, please refer to https://go.gov.sg/acceptabledocs.

    3. As hawker centres and coffeeshops4 are open-air and naturally ventilated spaces, a special concession would be given to allow vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals to dine in these settings, but subject to group sizes of up to 2 persons only. This concession remains unchanged during this period as hawker centres and coffee shops offer essential food services to the community. For avoidance of doubt, food courts5 are allowed to open for dine-in only for fully vaccinated/recovered/tested customers (see para 4.a.i.), and may continue to operate take-away services for all customers. However, only eligible customers are allowed to dine-in at food courts.

      COVID-19 Testing

    4. By 27 September, all individuals working at F&B establishments providing dine-in services (including part-time and full-time employees, third-party contracted staff, and all other workers who work on the premises, e.g. cleaners, contractors, subcontractors) and all last-mile food delivery personnel must undergo testing once every 7 days using tests such as the antigen rapid test (ART) regardless of their vaccination status, under the regular Fast and Easy Test Rostered Routine Testing (FET RRT) regime. This is to allow for earlier detection and ringfencing of cases, and can be done primarily through employer supervised self-swabs6. Individuals who have recovered from a COVID-19 infection in the past 270 days are exempted. Establishments can refer to the following GoBusiness portal link or ESG’s website for more details.

    5. From 1 October 2021, all unvaccinated individuals working in settings with mandatory FET RRT (reference paragraph 4.4) have to undergo testing twice a week7 using ART to mitigate the risk of transmission to the public, under the “Vaccinate or Regular Test” (VoRT) regime. This can similarly be done through employer supervised self-swabs.

      1. The cost of additional testing required for unvaccinated employees are to be fully borne by employees or the enterprises.

      2. The government will subsidise tests for the small group of individuals who are medically ineligible for vaccines.

      3. Employers should refer to the details on VoRT regime in MOM’s Advisory on COVID-19 vaccination in employment settings.

      4. All other vaccinated employees must continue with the prevailing FET RRT regime (testing once every 7 days).

  2. All F&B establishments are also to note the following measures:

    1. Sale and consumption of alcohol in all F&B establishments are prohibited after 2230hrs daily8. This includes consumption at any outdoor refreshment area and/or tables/chairs9 owned or managed by such establishment. As a best practice, by around 2200hrs, F&B operators should cease the sale of alcohol as a dine-in service and remind customers to consume their alcohol by 2230hrs.

    2. Entertainment at F&B establishments (e.g. live entertainment, recorded music, and videos/TV screening) remain prohibited.

    3. F&B establishments may serve as venues for marriage events10 and/or work-related events11 by third parties and are required to comply with the SMMs for these events.

      Protocol on handling COVID-19 cases

    4. Proactively manage potential contacts of positive COVID-19 cases at the workplace. Refer to https://www.mom.gov.sg/covid-19/requirements-for-safe-management-measures for more details.

    5. Observe the protocol on disinfection for premises visited by positive COVID-19 cases. Refer to https://www.nea.gov.sg/our-services/public-cleanliness/environmental-cleaning-guidelines/guidelines/guidelines-for-environmental-cleaning-and-disinfection for more details.

    6. Refer to https://www.gobusiness.gov.sg/covid-faqs/ for other information.

Safe Management Measures – Customer-facing operations/Front-of-house

  1. The following measures apply to all customer-facing operations of F&B establishments:

    1. Queue management

      1. Clearly demarcate queue lines, put up signage to guide customers on where to queue to order and collect food, and ensure at least one-metre spacing between individual customers at areas such as entrances and cashier counters (e.g. through floor markers). One-metre spacing must also be maintained between queues and seated customers (e.g. remove seats that are too close to the queue if required).

      2. Demarcate a waiting area for customers and delivery personnel to pick up their food.

      3. Implement pre-ordering and pre-payment solutions where possible to minimise physical clustering of customers waiting to place or pick up their orders.

      4. Encourage the use of self-checkouts, cashless or contactless payment methods to reduce contact between employees and customers.

      5. Implement contactless pick-up for food delivery orders where possible to minimise interactions.

      6. Ensure that customers and delivery personnel observe at least one-metre spacing at all times and do not cluster together.

    2. Table and seating management

      1. For F&B establishments that introduce vaccination-differentiated SMMs, group sizes must be limited to up to 2 persons.

      2. F&B establishments must ensure that a safe distance of at least one metre is maintained between groups of up to 2 customers to mitigate the risk of transmission. This refers to the distance between the edges of every group or person. In addition, F&B establishments must ensure that the furniture is arranged in such a way to facilitate safe distancing between groups – for example, the distance measured between the backs of chairs used by customers in different groups, or the legs of chairs if there is no back, must also be at least one metre apart12. Refer to https://www.enterprisesg.gov.sg/covid-19/safe-distance for the infographic on SMMs.

      3. F&B establishments should not accept reservations or walk-ins, or allow in their premises social gatherings with more than 2 persons, even if they are split across multiple tables. Exceptions can only be made if all members of the group are from the same household, i.e. have the same place of residence (families living in different places of residence are not from the same household). However, they will need to be seated at multiple tables, with no more than 2 persons per table, and with at least one-metre spacing maintained between these groups. F&B establishments are required to verify customers’ claims that they are from the same household, and can reject entry of customers at their discretion. There must be no mixing or intermingling between groups.

      4. Where tables/seats are fixed, tables/seats should be marked out to accommodate groups of no more than 2 persons, while ensuring at least one-metre spacing between groups.

      5. F&B establishments must ensure that customers are not sitting or standing within 0.5 metres of the common boundary13 between adjoining F&B premises unless there is a floor-to-ceiling, non-porous partition or wall separating the establishments.

      6. Self-service buffet lines are not allowed14. Food lines where diners can queue and be served by F&B employees are allowed with the necessary measures in place (see paragraph 6.f.).

    3. Crowd management

      1. Radio broadcasts, all forms of television, film and video screenings15 and the provision or allowance of other forms of public entertainment activities such as live music, dancing, variety acts and singing (by employees or customers), amusement devices, darts, billiards, pool, snooker, karaoke, gambling and/or gaming instruments (e.g. dice, mahjong tiles, playing cards)16 in the F&B premises are not permitted. F&B operators should also make clear to customers, for instance, that singing songs, including birthday songs, is not permitted.

      2. F&B establishments are also not allowed to play any form of recorded music or sounds, including background music. Emphatic toasting with food or drinks is disallowed, by both employees and customers. Operators should also ensure that their employees refrain from conduct that could encourage customers to make emphatic toasts.

      3. Operators of common play areas for children/toddlers/infants in F&B establishments17 must ensure at least one-metre spacing between groups of customers.

    4. Contact tracing

      1. F&B establishments18 must implement SafeEntry via TraceTogether-only SafeEntry (TT-only SE) for dine-in customers and visitors19.

      2. F&B establishments required to deploy SafeEntry for customers and visitors need to provide the SafeEntry Gateway20 (SEGW) as an additional option for SafeEntry check-in. SEGW is available as a feature within the SafeEntry (Business) App (updated to the latest version) and as a physical standalone device (SEGW Box). Do note that the SEGW Box cannot be used to facilitate the eligibility checks for the vaccination-differentiated SMMs.

      3. To facilitate more precise contact tracing efforts, SafeEntry check-out is also encouraged. Businesses can facilitate check-out for their customers by toggling to the SEGW check-out function within the SafeEntry (Business) App. Businesses with a higher throughput of visitors and places where people are likely to be in close proximity for prolonged periods with masks off will also be eligible for SEGW Check-out Boxes21.

      4. Refer to www.safeentry.gov.sg for more details on SafeEntry Check-in.

    5. Cleanliness and hygiene

      1. F&B establishments must ensure that all employees, delivery personnel and other onsite personnel wear their masks properly at all times. Employees who eat or drink onsite must wear their masks immediately after doing so. Establishments should also ensure that on-site customers wear their masks before food is served and immediately after their meals, as well as when customers move around the establishment.

      2. F&B establishments must ensure that common spaces and items, high-touch surfaces (e.g. counters, menus), interactive components (e.g. tablets, smart kiosks) as well as play areas for children/toddlers/infants are frequently cleaned/disinfected.

      3. Communal amenities for self-service (e.g. drink dispensers and condiment stations) must not be used22.

      4. Self-service food samples are not allowed.

      5. Hand sanitisers should be made available to employees and customers at common touchpoints (e.g. entry/exit doors, cashiers). Employees handling cash and other payment modes (e.g. credit cards) should clean or sanitise their hands before handling food and food packaging.

    6. Food lines served by employees23

      1. F&B establishments must cover food at the food lines with shields or other forms of barriers to minimise exposure and mitigate food contamination risk.

      2. Employees must pick the food for customers, and ensure that customers do not have contact with the food line.

      3. Employees must not handle food with bare hands. They must use a clean fork, tongs, scoop or other suitable utensil24.

      4. Employees must ensure that individuals queuing for food have their masks on at all times and maintain a safe distance of one-metre between individuals.

      5. These would be on top of the existing additional SMMs that are mandated at work-related events and MICE events. For instance, each food line must not be used to serve participants from different zones at the same time. Separate food lines must be set up for each zone, where practicable. Please refer to the Safe Business Events Framework for details.

    7. Ventilation and improving indoor air quality

      1. F&B establishments are strongly encouraged to improve ventilation and improve indoor air quality in all premises. They may wish to refer to the Guidance Note on improving ventilation and indoor air quality in buildings issued by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), National Environment Agency (NEA) and Ministry of Health (MOH)25 .

  2. F&B establishments should put up clear signages to remind customers to comply with safe distancing requirements where applicable, and train and deploy service personnel to provide clear communication to customers on SMMs.

  3. F&B establishments should allow customers to use their own clean and reusable containers when ordering takeaways. This will help to reduce the amount of waste generated and ease the demand for disposable food containers.

  4. Refer to Annex B [PDF, 68KB] for other recommended guidelines.

Safe Management Measures – Workplace Premises26/Back of House/Kitchen

  1. To ensure COVID-safe workplaces, F&B establishments should adhere to measures as outlined in MOM’s Requirements for Safe Management Measures at the Workplace, and take care of their workers, workplaces and those who may become unwell at their workplaces.

  2. Employers must ensure no cross-deployment across worksites27, i.e. no employee should work at more than one worksite.

    1. If cross-deployment cannot be avoided (e.g. due to the nature of the job), additional safeguards must be taken to minimise the risk of cross infection28.

    2. For venues that have been visited by positive COVID-19 cases and asked to close by MOH, employees should not be redeployed to other worksites at all for the period of closure. If instructed to go for swabs, employers must ensure that their employees from these venues visit the designated Regional Screening Centre, “Swab and Send Home” (SASH) Public Health Preparedness Clinics or mobile swab sites for the COVID-19 test offered by MOH. These employees should stay at home and minimise social interactions during the period of closure even if their swab results are negative. They should also monitor their health closely, and visit a doctor immediately if unwell.

Enforcement of measures

  1. Government agencies will be stepping up enforcement on F&B establishments and will take firm action against any breaches, including failure to maintain the one-metre safe distancing between groups and to prevent intermingling of groups, allowing group sizes above permissible limits, serving and allowing the consumption of alcohol after 2230hrs, and providing entertainment and games.

  2. Under the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act, first-time offenders will face a fine of up to S$10,000, imprisonment of up to six months, or both. Subsequent offences may face a fine of up to S$20,000, imprisonment of up to twelve months, or both.

  3. Businesses that do not implement or comply with the government’s requirements on SMMs may also be ineligible for government grants, loans, tax rebates and other assistance, and may also be subject to temporary closures.

    Annex A [PDF, 67KB]: SMMs for work-related events
    Annex B [PDF, 68KB]: Other recommended guidelines for customer-facing operations
     

Thank You.

ENTERPRISE SINGAPORE
HOUSING & DEVELOPMENT BOARD
SINGAPORE FOOD AGENCY
SINGAPORE TOURISM BOARD
URBAN REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

Updated as of 25 September 2021


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1Please refer to MOH’s Post Vaccination Matters website for more information.

2Recovered individuals can obtain a PET Exemption Notice from any clinic offering ART or PCR testing services. Refer to go.gov.sg/swabproviders for the list of MOH-approved COVID-19 test providers.

3Unvaccinated individuals aged 13 or above must have a valid negative ART or PCR result from an MOH-approved COVID-19 test provider within the last 24 hours. Refer to go.gov.sg/swabproviders for the list of MOH-approved COVID-19 test providers. Self-administered ART supervised by employer and self-administered ART results are not recognised for vaccination-differentiated SMMs.

4Coffee shops refer generally to F&B establishments with SFA coffee shop/ eating house/ canteen license that are not substantially enclosed by a permanent barrier.

5Food courts refer generally to F&B establishments with SFA food court license.

6SFA has sent out notices to relevant F&B licensees required to conduct FET for their employees.

7FA test done under the existing FET RRT, which is a supervised FET, also counts towards this requirement.

8This includes consumption by all individuals (such as customers, staff and vendors) within the F&B establishment.

9The furniture should be kept/secured after close of business in such manner to prevent use.

10Refer to the requirements at the GoBusiness portal for the SMMs on Marriage Solemnisations and Wedding Receptions.

11Refer to Annex A for the SMMs on work-related events.

12F&B establishments may use the bar counters to seat and serve meals to dine-in customers, but must ensure there is at least one-metre spacing between groups of customers.

13The common boundary can be demarcated by plants or other vegetation (potted or otherwise), a stanchion with a barrier rope or tape, a wire fence, a divider or furniture, or could refer to an outdoor dining space or a five-foot way or footpath.

14This also applies to catering companies, where they are not allowed to provide self-service buffet lines. Catering companies should also reference SMMs for MICE, Marriage Solemnisations and Wedding Receptions and work-related events where applicable.

15Except for advisory videos related to safe management measures. Static images and a carousel of static images on a digital screen (e.g. of menus and promotional items) without sound are not considered to be TV/video screenings.

16The list of gaming instruments is as stated in the Common Gaming House (Instruments and Appliances for Gaming) Rules.

17These play areas refer to the facilities provided free-of-charge in the establishments.

18F&B establishments include food courts.

19All F&B establishments must require their employees and vendors to do SafeEntry check-in via TT-only SE.

20The SEGW enables contactless detection of both the TraceTogether App and Token, and serves as an additional means of SafeEntry check-in that is quicker and more seamless. It also allows users to check if their Token has run out of battery or is not working.

21Refer to go.gov.sg/gateway-overview for latest details on when the free SEGW Check-out Boxes are available.

22F&B establishments are allowed to place condiments and cutleries at their stall counters, as long as these are within sight of and managed directly by the employees.

23Food lines are not permitted at weddings and funerals. For wedding receptions, F&B must continue to be served to seated customers. For funerals, F&B should not be consumed, with the exception of individually packed drinks and titbits, and individual bento boxes for family members of the deceased who keep vigil for the duration of the funeral wake. There should strictly be no sharing of drinks/ titbits at funerals.

24If the use of suitable utensils is not feasible, staff must wear clean gloves to handle the food. Appropriate hand hygiene practices must be observed; for more information on hand hygiene in food handling, please refer to https://www.sfa.gov.sg/food-information/risk-at-a-glance/hand-hygiene-in-food-handling.

25This Guidance Note provides building owners and facilities managers with updated recommended measures to enhance ventilation and air quality in indoor spaces. Refer to BCA’s website for the note.

26Refers to the F&B establishments’ back-of-house operations involving employees, including at offices, warehouses and manufacturing facilities.

27This will not apply to industries/companies that need to do so due to the nature of their work. Such companies will be required to demonstrate that cross-deployment or interaction between employees is critical for business operations, when requested by MOM or their sector agencies.

28E.g. systems are in place to ensure no direct contact between the cross-deployed personnel.

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