The Business Resilience Team (BRT), created in the company to counter the threat, took several measures aimed at maintaining hygiene, ensuring social distancing, and providing counseling long before the official announcement of the pandemic.
The technical department and production departments operate in daily mode, but engineers and management personnel work remotely. Workshop supervisors and engineers visit the workplace only if necessary. Specific rules and procedures have been developed for personnel who work at the plant territory. Sales team members heavily rely on using digital tools to communicate with customers.
The company has been actively using virtual communications for over seven years, thus smoothly adapted the administrative and support functions to a remote work mode. The factory canteen delivered food at lunchtime directly to the workplace.
All employees are advised to maintain a social distance of 1.5-2 meters and wear protective masks.
The company also provides financial support and humanitarian aid to 400 families and senior citizens of Sahil and Umid communities near the plant.
Azerbaijan registered its first case of COVID-19 on February 28, 2020. Starting in March 2020, the country closed borders and introduced strict quarantine measures by mid-March. All service and production facilities, except for strategic construction projects of social significance, were closed. As of the end of May 2020, there is not a single case of coronavirus among Holcim Azerbaijan employees.