Grab raises its safety standards

Grab introduces new safety features and distributes 100,000 hygiene kits nationwide with GrabProtect

GRAB, South-East Asia’s leading everyday app, has announced GrabProtect – a comprehensive set of safety and hygiene tech features, partnerships and safety policies to minimise the risk of Covid-19 infection.

As part of the programme, Grab will be distributing hygiene kits including hand sanitiser and disinfectant spray to over 100,000 drivers and delivery partners to protect their vehicles and delivery bags.

GrabProtect is a comprehensive set of safety and hygiene tech features, partnerships and safety policies to minimise the risk of Covid-19 infection.

Governments across South-East Asia are gradually lifting movement restrictions and restarting national economies. However, worries over a second wave of infection remain.

In a recent survey of ride-hailing users, consumers in Malaysia said that wearing masks (79%), providing hand sanitisers in-car (74%), and disinfecting car surfaces (60%) are the three most important preventive measures against Covid-19.

“With GrabProtect, we are setting a higher bar for safety and hygiene standards in ride-hailing and delivery services. This new hygiene routine starts before the ride begins, by ensuring drivers and users are healthy and have taken the necessary precautions before booking a ride, giving people the flexibility to cancel and provide feedback to Grab if either party is not wearing a mask, and encouraging safer and more hygienic practices like frequent hand sanitisation and use of cashless payment, ” said Grab Malaysia head of operations Rashid Shukor.

The measures include:

> New technology-enabled features to ensure higher safety standards:

Grab is rolling out a new in-app feature – an online health and hygiene declaration form – across Malaysia in June.

Since the Covid-19 outbreak, Grab’s drivers and delivery partners have started voluntarily submitting daily health declarations through the Grab Driver app. The new online health and hygiene declaration feature will require all drivers and delivery partners as well as passengers to declare the following, before they can start driving, delivering orders or book a ride:

– That they do not exhibit Covid-19 symptoms.

– They have adopted the necessary safety and hygiene measures.

– They have not had close contact with a Covid-19 patient in the last 14 days.

Sample screenshots of the health declaration feature in the Grab Driver app. For illustration purposes only.

> One million masks and over 100,000 hygiene kits distributed to drivers and delivery partners nationwide:

In Malaysia, Grab is partnering with manufacturers and leading brands such as Dettol to purchase hygiene products at discounted rates, making it available for its drivers and delivery-partners free of charge.

Over the last few months, Grab has delivered more than one million masks and hygiene kits directly to the homes of its delivery partners nationwide.

This time around, Grab will be distributing hygiene kits to over 100,000 drivers and delivery partners across the nation, including items such as hand sanitiser and disinfectant spray to protect their vehicles and delivery bags.

Car and delivery bag disinfection services will also be made available, at a subsidised fee, to Grab drivers and delivery partners at selected locations.

> New six-step process to empower users to make the right choices about safety:

Currently, Grab drivers and delivery partners are required to wear a mask whenever they are on the Grab platform. The same requirement will be extended to passengers to mask up. If either party shows up without a mask on, passenger or driver can cancel the booking by selecting “driver/passenger did not wear a mask” as the reason for cancellation.

Grab has also updated its in-app rating and feedback feature as well as help centre, with options to report health and hygiene-related concerns. These enable users to provide feedback to Grab if a driver may seem unwell or is not wearing a mask during the ride. Grab monitors these feedback and will take necessary action to protect the safety and well-being of its users.

“Ensuring the health and well-being of the community is a shared responsibility, ” said Rashid.

“This pandemic has shown us that we are more connected than we think. Everyone has a part to play to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

“Grab will continue to raise the bar for safety in our industry, and partner with governments and businesses in this journey, ” he added.