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Employees did not run away from tests: from now on, they will do so on a regular basis
According to Julija Gedrimė, HRM business partner at Švyturys-Utenos alus, part of the international Carlsberg group in Lithuania, the decision to start evaluating the company’s employees was made on her own initiative to protect the employees who are responsible. of production processes and not not having the opportunity to work remotely.
“We are a socially responsible company, we take care of our team, therefore, evaluating the current circumstances, we saw the need to guarantee the maximum safe working conditions. We started the first mass tests in early January and examined 186 employees in Lithuania, 83 in Latvia and 125 in Estonia. We have also included temporary workers who are not directly employed by the company but who work under the same conditions and care as us. Such an inspection was quite well received by the employees themselves, no one rejected the test, on the contrary, they expressed their gratitude. However, when we received the results, we were surprised, ”says J. Gedrimė.
According to her, the first stage of the tests was to find out how many employees of the distillery that operates in Utena were already infected with the virus and had antibodies formed in their blood. A total of 186 employees were tested. The results showed that up to 21 employees had antibodies, although the company only knew about 4 confirmed cases of the virus; the remaining 17 were asymptomatic.
“Of course, these workers were, without suspecting themselves, carriers of the virus, which represented a very potential threat of infecting those around them. Fortunately, we have applied the highest security requirements since March and we have strict preventive regulations for the spread of the virus. It’s not just about face masks and distance maintenance. We constantly disinfect the premises, divide the work shifts, restrict the work of the canteen and talk a lot about the conscience of the employees themselves, ”says the Švyturys-Utenos alus representative.
In the second stage, according to J. Gedrimė, 127 employees were subjected to rapid antigen tests and another 36, the most accurate PCR tests.
“Unfortunately, for two of our employees, the test came back positive, although they did not feel any symptoms. We had to take immediate security measures to prevent the virus from spreading, “he said.
Waiting for the green light for private vaccination
According to Rolandas Viršilas, director of Švyturys-Utena Beer and Carlsberg in the Baltic States, the trial practice introduced in the company has paid off, which is why it continues to promise to invest and periodically inspect employees. According to him, the first wave of research in Lithuania cost about 10 thousand. the second in both Latvia and Estonia. The company plans to repeat these surveys to a similar degree every two weeks at least until the situation in the country improves significantly. The second, a new test is being carried out these days.
“We see that the preventive steps were correct, we learned how to protect ourselves as much as possible from the virus. However, we cannot prevent it completely unless the company has the opportunity to buy vaccines and start vaccinating workers. I am sure that not only employers and employees would benefit from this, but that decision would contribute to a faster acquisition of public immunity ”, considers R. Viršilas.
He believes that vaccination would be especially beneficial for employees who are at risk due to age, as some employees have been working for the company for the first ten years.
“Only after vaccination for the most part will we be able to return to a normal life and a normal job without fear for the health and lives of any of them. We spend hundreds of thousands of euros a year on health and safety and before the pandemic We would also consider the question of buying a vaccine, if only we had the opportunity to do so, ”says the director of Švyturys-Utena Beer.
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