April 6, 2020
Dear Valued Customer,
As the COVID-19 global health crisis continues to evolve, Pollock Orora remains committed to placing the highest concern on the health and wellness of our co-workers while maintaining operations to safely support our customers. Our foundational values of teamwork, passion, respect and integrity are unwavering and continue to guide us in these challenging times.
The Orora Crisis Management Team is closely monitoring the advice and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to implement best practice across all Orora locations. We continue to ensure that co-workers who cannot perform their duties from home are following social distancing, regular hand washing and sanitizing recommendations. We have had co-workers who are ill remain at home and have instituted quarantining as needed. We have significantly increased our disinfecting practices at every site and implemented at least 30 minutes between every shift to decrease the amount of co-worker contact and interaction. This also allows us to disinfect and clean between shifts.
Due to our scale, Orora is uniquely positioned to provide ongoing service even in these most challenging times. All 2,700 of our co-workers across 65 sites (while many are working from home) remain focused on the highest level of service to our customers. This support is enabled by our state of the art technology and our SAP ERP system. We have reviewed our business continuity plans to prepare for site interruptions and minimize impact. We are currently recommending that customers increase their level of on-site safety stock for critical items in the event we are forced to temporarily close a site due to co-worker’s exposure.
Over the past week, we have experienced three positive COVID-19 cases impacting our team. On Monday March 30th, we were first informed of a positive co-worker test, on April 1st and April 4th we had second & third confirmed cases in a separate location. Most importantly, one of the co-workers has recovered fully and is back to work and we continue to stay in close contact with the others. Upon learning of these cases, our Orora Site Recovery Team went immediately into action. Using the CDC guidelines to direct us, we determined the need to temporarily shut down the sites, bring in a professional industrial disinfecting service, apply our evaluation protocols to isolate anyone who may have been exposed or was determined to be at risk, and only after we were assured of the safety of our co-workers, we had them return to work. We also made sure that there was a 14-day window between the last contact with the ill co-workers and the return of people to the sites which both re-opened late last week. While closed, we shifted business from these locations to our other local sites to support urgent customer needs. We will utilize our learning from these instances to continue our preparedness for potential future impact. All Orora Packaging Solutions locations in North America are open and fully operational.
In this dynamic environment, the Orora Crisis Management Team will evaluate status on a daily basis and continue to make decisions appropriate for that time. We will provide updates on our website at ororapackagingsolutions.com under the “Resource” section. If you have any questions, please reach out to your Orora Sales Representative or email solutions@ororagroup.com.
Lastly, our hearts go out to everyone who has been impacted by this virus, directly or indirectly. Our thoughts are with those who are ill, and we extend our sincere wishes for a full recovery. Additionally, we are truly inspired by the healthcare workers and first responders who are working selflessly and tirelessly in our communities every day.
We are sincerely grateful for your continued business and partnership through this challenging time and look forward to supporting you in the weeks, months and years to come.
Regards,
Bernie Salvatore
President & CEO, Orora Packaging Solutions