2 Sisters has said it has begun to reopen its poultry processing plant in Llangefni from today after a two week closure prompted by hundreds of workers becoming ill with COVID-19. Production will restart on Mon 6 July.
The factory employs 560 people. The first reported positive case of COVID-19 at Llangefni was May 28. When it closed 205 had tested positive.
A 2 Sisters spokesman said the company had spent the past two weeks “working closely with our partners including the Welsh Government, Public Health Wales, the Health and Safety Executive, Anglesey County Council, the Food Standards Agency, and Unite the Union and we thank them for their support at this challenging time.
“Swiftly closing our factory was only the first step in doing this, and over the past two weeks we have left no stone unturned in our pursuit of ‘best in class’ COVID-19 measures.”
The company said it was “far too early to say how and why the virus spread”, but that it would spend today (Friday 3 July) “briefing our people… on the new measures and how every single person should take personal responsibility for their own behaviours.
“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.”
Limited production will begin only after all staff have been briefed on the new measures the company has introduced to manage the risks of COVID-19. These include: COVID-19 awareness training for all colleagues before production recommences; Slotted visors to be replaced with full face visors for every colleague; Full staggered shift starts in all areas; Each shift group managed as a ‘bubble’ at all times; All shifts staggered break and lunch times; Existing screening supplemented with full ‘opposite’ and ‘side-by-side’ screening; Further canteen extension; Existing social distancing in canteen supplemented by table screening dividers on all tables; Extension of smoking area; CCTV surveillance of all potential high traffic areas, including smoking area; Increase in number of COVID-19 marshals; Bespoke isolation/rest room; all car sharers to be issued with wipes.
