In response to the challenges and dynamic situations centered around the COVID-19 virus, we felt it important to communicate the precautions and business practices that have been put into place to help to prevent the spread of the virus and ensure continuity of product supply. We produce products that are a need of the Critical Infrastructure Industry as defined by the Department of Homeland Security; including healthcare, pharmaceutical, and food supply and with this we are doing everything we can to prevent any disruptions in supply.
Below are the steps and precautions being taken. With the situation being fluid, we will react and adjust as needed.
Employees will need to stay home if sick
- If an employee has symptoms of acute respiratory illness, they will stay home and not come to work until free of fever (100.4° F [37.8° C] or greater using an oral thermometer), signs of a fever, and any other symptoms for at least 24 hours, without the use of fever-reducing or other symptom-altering medicines (e.g. cough suppressants). Employees need to notify APTech and stay home when sick.
- If an employee is well but has a sick family member at home with COVID-19, they should notify APTech and refer to CDC guidance for how to conduct a risk assessment of potential exposure.
- If an employee is confirmed to have COVID-19, we will inform fellow employees of their possible exposure to COVID-19 in the workplace but maintain confidentiality as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
- APTech will not penalize an employee for staying home if they or an immediate family member is sick or in quarantine.
Employees At Work
- Employees temperatures will be checked upon arrival to work
- Employees will need to leave work if they become sick during the day
- Employees should maintain social distancing at all times – no closer than 6 ft from each other
- Common surfaces throughout the facility will be cleaned on a regular schedule throughout the workday at 10 AM, 1 PM and 4 PM
- Communal food and sharing of dishes are prohibited until further notice
- No more than four people to eat lunch in the lunchroom at any given time
- Office personnel are asked to eat at their desks or offsite
- All business travel has been suspended indefinitely
- All internal meetings to be conducted in the large conference room to ensure social distancing
- No more than two people to engage in conversation in private offices
- Larger gatherings are directed to the large conference room or the large open area outside of the production office
Visitors
- Non-essential visitors will not be allowed on site until further notice
- All deliveries will be made to the shipping and receiving area and are not currently permitted to the front door
- All delivery and truck drivers shall remain in a designated area while their trucks are being loaded or unloaded
Continuity
- Discussions are ongoing with critical suppliers and vendors to ensure raw
material is available- Suppliers have reassured us there is not an issue with supply
- Even with these assurances, APTech has committed to maintaining a minimum of two months’ inventory onsite
- A “quarantine team” has been developed to ensure the availability of personnel who would be able to maintain operations in the event of any government-mandated quarantines or shutdowns.
As a company we are fortunate to have a dedicated team who is willing and available to do whatever is necessary to prevent a disruption of the supply of our products. Given the size of our facility and with only 20 employees onsite, we are positioned well to maintain social distancing practices. If the need for this distancing were to be increased there is also the availability to stagger shifts and designate assignments to minimize the size of the team onsite at a given time.
Companywide there are reminders for all individuals to increase their awareness of personal hygiene, including washing of hands for at least 20 second with warm, soapy water or use alcohol-based hand sanitizers. We have also asked all employees to conduct either of these practices upon returning to the facility after leaving for any period of time.
Please contact us if there is any further support you would need from us. We believe we are very well positioned to continue to support you and your business, including support in manufacturing, supply or distribution for products that are non-traditional to APTech. If your own facilities or current suppliers were to become unavailable, we will do anything we can to support you.
