Three Sappi employees at Ngodwana Mill tested positive for the Covid-19 since the start of lockdown
Since the national lockdown started on March 26, three Sappi employees at Ngodwana Mill have tested positive for the Covid-19 coronavirus. A fourth person - a contractor - was retested and the results were negative.
The wife of a Sappi employee expressed her concern about the safety of her husband, his colleagues and their families.
“My concern is that institutions like hospitals, schools and police stations are closing down when employees test positive. But Sappi does not shut down its operations and only sanitises sectors of the mill when someone tests positive.
It is a massive mill and people move around, so sanitising one area might not be sufficient,” she said. According to Elsabé Coetzee, regional communications manager of the company, it is true that only affected areas are deep-cleaned when an employee tests positive.
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“It is not viable to deep-clean the entire mill due to the nature of the plant. In addition, our response plan requires cleansing of affected areas only and a thorough investigation is conducted to ensure all affected areas are identified for deep-cleaning,” she said.
Sappi has an extensive and rigorous Covid-19 prevention and response plan in place to ensure a safe working environment for employees, contractors and other visitors. Its protocols are based on the best practice recommendations of the World Health Organisation and the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NICD).
“We also obtain input from leading subject matter experts. Ngodwana Mill follows these exact procedures and protocols to ensure that it acts responsibly in taking the required preventative and protection measures to safeguard our employees and their families, as well as society,” Coetzee added.
READ THE LETTER FROM SAPPI HERE.
In general, all employees are issued with hand sanitiser and disinfectant. They are expected to disinfect and clean their own workspace and equipment four times a day, also using soap and water. Shared spaces such as control rooms must be disinfected before and after each shift.
The contracted cleaning company disinfects potential hot-spots where there is more traffic, such as access points and ablutions four times a day. Other preventative measures include the wearing of masks (which are provided by the mill), proper hand hygiene (washing with soap and water and/or using sanitiser), maintaining social distance and not spending more than 15 minutes in the presence of anyone else.
“Sappi is confident that we are doing everything in our power to ensure a safe working environment for our employees and contractors to the benefit of the health and safety of the Lowveld community.
However, we understand that people have differing opinions on the matter of dealing with Covid-19 and we, therefore, remain committed to continue engaging our employees, contractors and other stakeholders in this matter,” Coetzee said.
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