The CEO of a Vancouver fruit processor linked to 85 coronavirus cases said Wednesday that his company could have done more to protect employees.
Firestone Pacific Foods CEO Josh Hinerfeld said that the company started implementing new safety policies and educating employees about the novel coronavirus in March, but that it struggled to implement and enforce physical distancing measures on the production line and in a break room at its facility.
“We could have done better,” Hinerfeld said. “Through this process, we learned that we didn’t do enough. I sure hope through our experience, which obviously has been very painful for many, that others will learn from it.”
Firestone Pacific Foods said Wednesday that 70 of its employees and another 15 people identified as close contacts of those employees had tested positive for COVID-19. Those numbers were up from 65 cases on Sunday and just 10 on Friday.
Firestone suspended production and closed its office on May 18 due to the outbreak. Washington state health officials also suspended Clark County’s application to move to Phase 2 of its reopening on Saturday night because of the Firestone outbreak.
An investigator from Clark County’s public health department identified several areas of concern at the Firestone facility following the outbreak, including a lack of physical distancing on the production line and during breaks and the sharing of clock-in and clock-out paperwork.
Hinerfeld said that the company implemented daily health screenings for employees starting on March 20 and required employees to wear masks on April 29. But, he said, some employees were still working in close proximity on the production line and it was difficult to enforce the mask rule when employees went on break and ensure physical distancing in a small break room. The company set up a canopy outside in May to give workers another place to go during breaks.
“I say with great humility, we thought we had a good plan in place here to keep people safe,” Hinerfeld said.
Since the outbreak, Clark County’s public health department and Washington’s Department of Labor and Industries have been working with Firestone to help the company develop measures to safely resume operations. Hinerfeld said the company now has a 50-point plan in place and has already implemented the vast majority of the measures. They hope to have addressed all 50 by the end of the week.
As part of its safety plan, Firestone officials installed dividers between staff areas on the production line, rearranged furniture and put markings on the floor in the break room to ensure physical distancing. They also hired two medical technicians to screen employees before they begin work and implemented enhanced sanitization measures.
The company also had its main building deep-cleaned immediately following the outbreak. Hinerfeld said that the company’s cold storage facility, which is across the street from the main facility, was not deep-cleaned because no staff members from that facility have tested positive for the virus and there is little traffic between the two facilities. The cold storage facility remains open, according to the company.
Hinerfeld said that he planned to discuss the company’s safety plan with Clark County’s public health department again Thursday. He said the company would work in collaboration with the county to determine when it could reopen, but was hopeful that the facility could resume operations as early as this week.
“The first thing is we want to make sure the staff and community is safe, we want to make sure when people come back to work that they feel safe and, gosh darn it, if we don’t get up and running here pretty quickly, we’re going to have a lot of farmers who are going to be in trouble,” Hinerfeld said. “Thank goodness, we have another processor in the Willamette Valley that is processing fresh fruit on our behalf right now. Farmers are harvesting strawberries and blueberries in California. If that product doesn’t get frozen right away, it has to get dumped.”
Agriculture Capital, which invests in cropland and food processing businesses, announced in September that it was investing in Firestone Pacific Foods to enable the family-owned company to expand its facilities. Agriculture Capital’s Chief Marketing Officer sits on the Firestone board.
A spokesman for Agriculture Capital said Wednesday that its operations were continuing to follow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and implementing additional protective measures. The spokesman said the company had “full trust in the Firestone team to protect and support employees while preventing future infections and ensuring food safety.”
Agriculture Capital has seen coronavirus cases at two of its other operations in California, with 28 confirmed cases at Legacy Packing and Shipping in Dinuba, and one case at Griffith Farms in Exeter. Both facilities remain open.
A spokesman for Clark County’s public health department said that the county will continue to work with Firestone and Labor and Industries to ensure the facility is adhering to guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before production resumes.
Hinerfeld said that the company will determine when to reopen in collaboration with the county, but said he wants the facility to be back up and running soon.
“We know there are a number of businesses that are continuing to operate and have continued to operate knowing they have COVID cases,” Hinerfeld said. “We have a great sense of urgency to reopen. I’m going to be pretty insistent in my communication that, ‘Hey, if we’ve done our part to make our employees safe when they come back to work that we would ask the county to work with us to see what we can do to start reopening in a measured manner.’”
-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com | @jamiebgoldberg
Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
"Ceo" - Google News
May 28, 2020 at 11:36AM
https://ift.tt/3guycjE
Vancouver fruit processor CEO says company could have done more to protect employees - OregonLive
"Ceo" - Google News
https://ift.tt/37G5RC0
https://ift.tt/2W5rCYQ
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Vancouver fruit processor CEO says company could have done more to protect employees - OregonLive"
Post a Comment