Smithfield halts operations in one of its plants
Smithfield Foods is to close and disinfect one of its largest processing plants in the US, the one in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, due to a coronavirus outbreak among the company's employees. At least 80 workers in the factory have tested positive for COVID-19, informs the company.
will suspend operations in a large section of the plant on April 11 and completely shutter on April 12 and April 13. Smithfield is taking this action out of an abundance of caution for its 3,700 employees in Sioux Falls, a portion of whom have tested positive for COVID-19. During this time, essential personnel will repeat the rigorous deep cleaning and sanitization that have been ongoing at the facility and install additional physical barriers to further enhance social distancing. Employees will be paid for any previously scheduled hours during the temporary closure.
“Smithfield Foods is taking the utmost precautions and actions to ensure the health and wellbeing of our employees – with an even increased emphasis on our critical role in the ongoing supply of food to American families. Our Sioux Falls plant supplies nearly 130 million servings of food per week, or about 18 million servings per day, to our country. Our more than 40,000 U.S. team members, thousands of American family farmers and our many other supply chain partners are a crucial part of our nation’s response to COVID-19,” said Kenneth M. Sullivan, president and chief executive officer, for Smithfield.
Smithfield has instituted a series of stringent and detailed processes and protocols that follow the strict guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to effectively manage COVID-19 cases in its operations. These include mandatory 14-day COVID-19 related quarantines with pay as an uncompromising effort to protect its dedicated employees. The company has also relaxed attendance policies to eliminate any punitive effect for missing work due to COVID-19 diagnosis or quarantine. Also, Smithfield is taking many measures to minimize its team members’ risks of contracting COVID-19. These include adding extra hand sanitizing stations, boosting personal protective equipment, continuing to stress the importance of personal hygiene, enhancing cleaning and disinfection, expanding employee health benefits, implementing thermal scanning, increasing social distancing, installing plexiglass and other physical barriers and restricting all nonessential visitors.
This is the second major disruption in the US meat supply chain after Tyson Foods announced it has suspended operations at it’s Columbus Junction, Iowa, pork plant “out of an abundance of caution” as more than two dozen employees tested positive for COVID-19. "Our meat and poultry plants are experiencing varying levels of production impact, due to the planned implementation of additional worker safety precautions and worker absenteeism," said Tyson CEO, Noel White.
Two other beef plants, in Colorado and Nebraska, owned by JBS are under surveillance from local health authorities on the suspicion of COVID-19 infections among workers.
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