All across the world, people have sprung into action to join the fight against COVID-19. From donating food supplies to making facial coverings, our employees are in the thick of it helping their neighbors and communities. Recently, our employees banded together to develop innovative safety measures to minimize coronavirus transmission in the workplace.
“The bottom line is that we are not only colleagues, we’re a family,” said Daniel Pichette, HSE manager for the Channelview Complex. “It’s been important for all of us to ensure one another’s safety and well-being since the beginning of this pandemic. We’ve found ways and resources to creatively mitigate risk of the spread of the virus in our work spaces.”
Our team at the Channelview Complex implemented innovative ways to deep clean various areas of the site. These measures included the use of a highly effective disinfectant – TwinOxide – that takes only one minute to destroy any virus or bacteria. Additionally, the team performs deep cleaning using ultraviolet (UV) lamps and handheld UV wands to eliminate germs, viruses and bacteria in central control rooms, fieldhouses, lunch/break rooms and surfaces such as keyboards and control room workstations.
“It’s truly been inspiring to see our employees come together to support each other and our operations,” said Tassilo Bader, Wesseling/Knapsack (Germany) site manager. “Globally, it is understood how critical it is to keep our plants running safely and reliably in order to supply the many vital products that power industries supporting healthcare, hygiene and medicine.”
At the Sumare site in Brazil, team members took additional initiatives to avoid contamination and spread of the coronavirus. These initiatives include screenings and temperature checks before accessing the site, distribution of face coverings and thermometers to all employees, high touch surfaces in the plant being cleaned multiple times daily, the use of nitrile gloves in the receiving area, and the development of a response plan if someone does test positive for COVID-19. Most importantly, the site strives to keep people informed about the virus and how to protect each other.
“The bottom line is that we are not only colleagues, we are a family," said Clovis Campos, Site Manager for Sumare. “It’s been important for all of us to ensure one another’s safety and well-being since the beginning of this pandemic. We’ve found ways and resources to creatively mitigate risk of the spread of the virus in our work spaces.”
Operators at our Wesseling, Germany site stepped up to carry the work load for their colleagues, who were quarantined as a precaution. Without these individuals, a unit that manufactures products to support the production of medical supplies would have shut down. Recognizing this critical situation, our operators continued to safely run the plant with heightened safety measures. The staff and contractors maintained a secure environment by conducting visitor health questionnaires and temperature checks for drivers before entering the site. Our kitchen staff provided takeaway meals to coworkers during various shifts to ensure they were energized and fueled.
At our Clinton, Iowa facility, team members installed a variety of safety measures, including a plexiglass shield between their cubicle workstations to ensure social distancing in an open work space. The team also posted signs to limit the traffic and exposure from person-to-person contact in the facilities operations building, and added additional sanitation measures. Air purifiers were installed in the work spaces and the team added an extra layer of protection by requiring facial coverings any time site members are within 6 feet of another person.
“We asked our teams to find a way to add social distancing and implement it quickly, so it is no surprise that our employees delivered results above and beyond what we could have predicted,” said Yarelis Hernandez, site manager, LyondellBasell Clinton Complex. “We are thankful for everyone that stepped up and made our space a safe environment for our team.”
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, our company’s focus has been, and continues to be, on the health and safety of our people, the safety and security of our work locations and maintaining business continuity. Our employees are working tirelessly to keep our plants operating safely and protect our LyondellBasell family through innovative safety measures that help limit the spread of the virus.
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