COVID outbreak factory reopens after deep clean
Staff back to work with safety training
A Perthshire food factory at the centre of a COVID-19 outbreak has welcomed its workers back.
The 2 Sisters poultry processing factory in Coupar Angus has been given the goahead to resume production following its two-week closure.
The factory has undergone a deep clean, has enhanced measures in place and COVID-19 awareness training is being given to staff.
As the PA went to press yesterday, there had been 188 confirmed COVID-19 cases linked to the factory - 164 workers and 24 community contacts.
Workers began returning for training yesterday (Monday, August 31) before the factory officially reopens on Tuesday, September 1.
A spokesperson for 2 Sisters Food Group said: “Working closely with the incident management team, NHS Tayside and the local authority, we have been working hard during the temporary closure to supplement our existing COVID-19 control measures to keep all colleagues safe.”
The spokesperson said it was not only important for workers to stay safe in the factory but in the wider community too.
The spokesperson said: “Whilst it is important to ensure our measures on site are robust and working, we believe it is also critically important for our people to understand their obligations away from the factory in the local community, which our initial analysis suggests has played a significant role in the transmission of the virus.
“In addition to a series of enhanced measures, colleagues will also receive training and best practice guides on issues ranging from transport arrangements, conduct in the community, to keeping COVID-safe in a shared household. We expect each and every colleague to take personal responsibility for their own behaviours outside of work.
“As one of the largest employers in the area, we are more than aware of our responsibility in the community to ensure we act with care to ensure everyone’s health, safety and wellbeing.”
Staff were yesterday given full COVID-19 ‘awareness training’ before production resumed. The training included guidance on how to conduct themselves outside the factory with training on best practice in shared households and transport to and from work.
Workers who contracted COVID-19 have also been warned not to assume they are now immune to the virus.
The spokesperson said: “We also realise there will be colleagues who have tested positive and may believe this provides them with some level of immunity.
“The reality is that we don’t know this to be true, so our teams will be making sure everyone knows we all have a shared responsibility to protect each of us and our wider community from any further outbreak.”
The company told the PA that the Coupar Angus site had strict measures in place from March without “a single positive case” being reported until August 14. Following the August outbreak, there will now be “additional measures” in place.
These include a full site deep clean and staff must test negative for COVID-19 before restarting.
A marquee has been installed to provide a larger changing facility and locker area. The factory will also operate a one-way system for entering the factory and the canteen. There are 315 workstations with pod-screens, giving face-to-face and side screening protection from end to end, installed. New toilet facilities for external colleagues such as drivers have been put in.
Dr Emma Fletcher, associate director of public health and the chair of the Incident Management Team, said: “The IMT considered the risk assessments and were satisfied that the factory should be able to reopen from Monday, August 31.
“The majority of staff will be able to return from Monday, August 31. However, those who have had positive tests themselves, or those who live with a positive case, must follow the specific self-isolation guidance they have been given and not return to work until their period of isolation is over.”