Outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, at meat processing plants are occurring in a number of countries around the world. Reported examples of outbreaks have been seen in Ireland, Spain, Australia, Germany, Brazil, Canada and the United Kingdom. Diversey has continuously been searching for ways to help our customers to keep serving the communities. To this end, we have created an enhanced guide which presents best practice advice to help protect your employees, your facilities and ultimately your business in these uncertain times.
The impact of such an outbreak of Coronavirus can have far-reaching implications for a business. It is ultimately an employer's duty to protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees and other people who might be affected by their business. In these unprecedented times, the risk to employee safety and ultimately risk to life is a key concern to the industry.
In line with this public concern, and based on the labor-intensive nature of the operations, the regulatory inspection systems and the industry associations in many countries are mandating that meat processors take incremental measures to prevent the spread of the disease among the employees.
These measures include intensifying personal hygiene practices, employees screening, implementing intervention practices to control the spread of the virus through the air, updating current SOP`s and continued control for water quality. Fines, plant shutdowns and labor shortages are among the risks associated with not properly implementing these hygienic measures. In addition, the risk of shut down to customer contracts and brand reputation can have a devastating impact. The loss of productivity can cause instability in the supply chain with panic buying of meat and the euthanization of millions of farm animals. All this can lead to major financial losses for farmers and meat processors.
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These materials are provided for general information purposes only and do not replace each user's responsibility to assess the operational, legal and other requirements applicable to each facility.