In the current crisis, Thales employees are helping to ensure that we continue to deliver for our customers and partners. As they support these projects, we have taken comprehensive measures across North America to protect our most valuable asset: our employees.
In a 3-question Q&A with Judy Weber, VP of Operations & Ambition Boost, we explore Thales’ commitment to protecting employee health and safety in these critical times.
Tell us about Thales’ efforts to ensure employee safety and minimize risk during the current crisis.
JW: Our #1 objective is always the health and safety of our employees. In the wake of the pandemic, we quickly mobilized to respond to the continually-evolving situation and meet the safety needs of our sites. For example,
...regional leadership created a crisis team that is responsible for ensuring that the right procedures, safety protocols, communications and safety equipment are available.
Our first call to action was the closing of facilities where states, provinces, cities and counties released “stay at home” orders. Our second call to action was monitoring employees that reported symptoms, or were confirmed to have COVID-19, and taking swift steps to mitigate the impact to other employees. This included check-ins with employees that were in close contact with impacted individuals, and coordinating additional cleaning protocols for the areas where these employees worked.
How were Thales’ health and safety protocols impacted by COVID-19?
JW: Each site has a Health and Safety officer that ensures that we have the right procedures in place for a crisis like COVID-19. From day 1, this team of officers worked with local and regional management to share lessons learned and best practices, which enabled us to implement procedures more efficiently.
For our remote workers— of which we now have more than 4,500 across the region— our focus was on coordinating with our Information Technology group to ensure they had the tools and infrastructure they needed to work successfully from home.
As employees return to our sites, we will have new safety protocols to ensure that proper social distancing and cleaning processes are followed. For example, this could mean additional signage on proper hygiene and social distancing, or restricted occupancy in conference rooms and common areas.
We have had to be flexible and adaptable as the environment changes— considering changes in local regulations and business conditions to create new procedures.
What measures has Thales taken to ensure the safety of essential, onsite workers?
JW: Many of Thales’ activities have been deemed “essential,” and several sites have remained open to support these essential activities, including work at some of our production lines, call centers and onsite customer support.
For these employees, it was our priority to make their environments as safe as possible. We worked to quickly supply medical masks, sanitizing wipes, and gloves for all of our essential facilities. Because the demand for this equipment is so high, it was challenging to locate the right equipment in the quantities that we needed. Through the efforts of our Procurement group, we were able to secure over 2 million masks; a six-month supply for both our essential employees and non-essential employees as they return to our facilities.
We also worked with our facilities management and janitorial service providers to increase our cleaning frequency with close attention to high touch areas such as conference rooms, door handles, and kitchen areas. In addition, we have introduced new procedures for all site visitors— who are required to fill out questionnaires before entering— to mitigate potential spread of the virus to our employees.
It is our hope that all of these efforts will limit exposure, and help ensure the health and safety of our Thales family as we move forward in these uncertain times.