VW reshapes workplace safety as virus threat lingers

WOLFSBURG: Volkswagen and its Works Council have agreed on a 100-point plan to ensure maximum safety at the factory floor.

This plan includes specific rules on distances and hygiene. Some of the highlights are as follows:

> Employees are called on to measure their temperature at home every morning and to go through a health checklist before they leave for work, preferably already dressed in their workwear.

> Walkway diversions have been set up to avoid contacts, numerous distance markers on floors act as guides for walking and for keeping distances during meetings.

> Mouth and nose protection must be worn in areas where minimum distances of 1.5 metres are not possible. Mobile plexiglass partitions are in use in many areas.

> Material is often no longer transferred from employee to employee, but is placed in containers. The teams are being given more time to clean their tools.

> Cleaning frequency for washrooms and team rooms is being intensified, and several hundred additional hand washing facilities are being installed throughout the plant.

> The company is converting conference rooms into office spaces, flextime is being extended in offices and, where possible, home office options are being continued.

> To maximise information and awareness, over 8,000 posters are on display at the Wolfsburg plant alone, every employee has also received a booklet containing detailed information on the precautionary measures.

Volkswagen has shared this 100-point plan with its more than 40,000 suppliers and logistics partners throughout the world.

At 156,513 infections yesterday, Germany has the fourth-highest infection rate in Europe being Spain, Italy and France.  Deaths stood at 5,877 as of Sunday morning.

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