Press release
Protection for employees and visitors
Borgholzhausen, April 1, 2020 – We couldn’t prevent the Corona virus from reaching us. But how we deal with it is up to us. For B + S, this primarily means offering all employees the safest possible working environment. On the one hand, we feel responsible for the health of every individual. On the other hand, as a systemically relevant company, we are also essential for the common good. This was shown by our order situation: In some areas we are currently seeing an increase of up to 300 percent. That is why we initiated far-reaching measures very early on. So our customers can count on our full willingness to perform at any time.
Protection for employees and visitors
We have set up a 24-hour hotline for our staff, which anyone can report who shows symptoms. In this way it can be clarified directly whether or not they should stay at home, see a doctor or inform the health department. The hygiene measures in the buildings were also ramped up: Additional dispensers with disinfectants and twice as often cleaning of the social and break rooms ensure the best possible protection. An important element at B + S is compliance with the 1.5-meter distance rule. For this purpose, there were smaller “renovation measures” in some offices so that the desks were at a sufficient distance from each other. Visitors from outside are required to observe the requirements to the same extent. HR Manager Marcus Meyer reports: “There are strict admission controls for visitors and external staff such as truck drivers. We use a questionnaire to determine whether they were in risk areas, had contact with an infected person, or had symptoms. Access is only granted to those who answer these questions with “No”.
Unrestricted accessibility for our customers
A mask requirement also applies in the commercial sector. All employees have received fabric masks that they can also use privately. At the initiative of a colleague, masks in the corporate design of B + S were even created. We used multilingual flyers to inform the staff about the rules and measures. We also pointed out how important it is to take the precautionary measures privately. This is how we work together to strengthen cohesion and reduce the risk of infection. So far, these efforts have paid off: we had no reports of suspicion or illness. We are fully available to our customers. We are increasingly using secure digital solutions such as video conferences.
Our contribution to society
We are continuing our comprehensive measures and very much hope that they will continue to be so successful. Last but not least, we want to make our contribution to slowing the infection rate of COVID-19 and giving our healthcare system time to act.