Maple Leaf Foods is continuing its vigilant efforts to keep Team Members safe from COVID-19 as some local communities where we operate experience rises in COVID-19 cases.
At Maple Leaf Foods, health and safety is our first priority. We have built a comprehensive COVID-19 prevention and safety program that has transformed how our sites operate through mandatory COVID-19 screenings, daily temperature monitoring, face coverings, careful social distancing, plexiglass separators on production lines where possible, marks on floors to control movement in certain directions and efforts to decrease density, like staggered shifts and additional break space. We continually seek opportunities to strengthen people safety programs and take action when new information and recommendations become available. We are very transparent about the steps we are taking, and pleased to share a video about our efforts.
As we continue operations at all of our sites, we maintain ongoing consultation with Public Health authorities to affirm the effectiveness of our safety programs. Public Health officials who have visited our facilities for inspections have praised our programs, with one Manitoba public health official remarking that we had “gone above and beyond” public health expectations. Other Public Health departments have provided similar feedback.
As the pandemic approaches the one-year mark and Canadians and Americans naturally feel COVID-19 fatigue, we are providing important reminders to Team Members urging them to stay focused on COVID-19 prevention. Our long-standing message to our Team Members is this: When you take care of yourself, you take care of all of us.
We are eager to see COVID-19 vaccines become available to our Team Members and we encourage provincial governments to prioritize people in essential industries like ours. We are committed to executing our business with excellence and to protecting the health of our people as we work to produce the food people need.