Information on Covid-19 Pandemic Measures
Dear Stakeholders,
While the effects of the Covid-19 virus, which has turned into a global pandemic, are felt more and more in the world every day, we closely follow the developments regarding the pandemic on a national and international scale, implement the highest levels of measures in all the countries we operate and re-plan our business processes accordingly. With the responsibility of being one of Turkey's most well-established companies, we fulfill our duties regarding the health of our colleagues, business partners and customers without interrupting our production and services for the basic needs of society in these trying times.
As a result of the work we have been doing since the beginning of the pandemic, we have implemented the highest level of occupational health and safety practices in our entire organization, both at home and abroad, and we have also implemented various measures to ensure our business continuity. As always, we see the health of our employees and their families as our top priority in this challenging process, and we take all our measures accordingly.
We closely follow the guidance provided by the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Health and all relevant official institutions and meticulously implement all measures determined. In this context, we rapidly implement the decisions taken by the "Emergency Coordination Committee" consisting of members of the Executive Board under the chairmanship of the Group General Manager in line with current developments and take actions within the framework of the "Pandemic Action Plan" we have prepared.
In all countries where we operate, we communicate transparently with all our stakeholders, especially our employees, unions to which our employees belong, suppliers and customers, and regularly share the actions we take. In addition, we use many different communication channels such as e-trainings, digital screens, and announcements to inform our employees about developments regarding the pandemic, Covid-19 symptoms and personal protective measures, and we continue to share up-to-date information.
To date, we have rapidly implemented many important actions to protect the health of our employees and ensure business continuity both at our production facilities and at our headquarters. Starting to take precautions before the official announcement of the first Covid-19 case in Turkey, we quickly implemented protective actions against the Covid-19 virus with decisions such as the distribution of personal protective equipment, the widespread use of disinfectants and fever measurement in our production facilities. We started to regularly and frequently disinfect the common areas that our employees use intensively against the virus. We made new arrangements in common areas such as cafeterias and personnel services to ensure a working order that respects social distancing for our employees in all our workplaces. We ensured periodic disinfection in personnel services at every shift change. We managed to optimize the number of employees in our production facilities in a way that does not affect our production activities but protects employee health.
In parallel with the decision taken by the authorities in Turkey, we put our pregnant and chronically ill employees on administrative leave at the very beginning of the process. At our Headquarters, we created a working order that reduces employee density by planning to work from home and work from a rotating office in a way that both protects the health of our employees and ensures business continuity. We revamped our recruitment process and training programs to be carried out on digital platforms. In order to minimize visitor entrances at our Headquarters, we started conducting our meetings over the telephone, by teleconferencing or video conferencing. We temporarily suspended business trips and customer visits, taking into account the health of both our customers and our employees.
We do not limit the fight against the Covid-19 outbreak only to the actions we take within our Group, but we also take responsibility by supporting the studies on the health of the public. In this context, we contributed to the 10 million Turkish lira donation campaign organized by İşbank Group companies to meet the needs of hospitals under the General Directorate of Public Hospitals of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Turkey. We supported the procurement of materials such as ventilators, video laryngoscopes, masks, overalls and gloves needed by hospitals to be determined in order to strengthen the health service delivery capacity.
In line with our social responsibility approach, we continue to contribute to our stakeholders in other countries where we operate, in line with the prioritized needs and opportunities. In Bulgaria, we donated 100 thousand Leva to the Targovishte hospital in the region where our production facilities are located, for equipment and health supplies that are in urgent and priority need. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, we donated 100 thousand Bosnian Marks to the Ministry of Health of Tuzla Canton, the region where our production facilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina are located, and food aid packages to families in need. We provided protective equipment and supplies to our employees in our factories in Italy, despite all the difficulties experienced in the procurement process. In Georgia, we donated 1000 boxes of cleaning and food supplies to be delivered to families in need.
Today, as an international Group with production activities in 14 countries and sales in more than 150 countries, we continue on our way with our determination to provide the service and support our customers expect from us throughout this entire process. We demand the same meticulousness from all our business partners who serve our facilities with the measures and practices we have implemented. We closely monitor the social distancing, hygiene and disinfection practices of our suppliers.
While we are going through an extraordinary period where all kinds of feedback are critical for us to make the right planning, we are taking the necessary measures to fulfill our commitments to our customers by working on procurement, production and logistics in this process.
We hope to leave these trying times soon behind us, and in good health, and we wish you and all your loved ones health.
Best Regards,
Şişecam Group
