All sites continue to operate during pandemic
MISSISSAUGA, Ontario — Maple Leaf Foods has announced that it is continuing to emphasize the importance of vigilance against COVID-19 with its team members as colder weather has arrived, and provinces and states across North America are seeing increasing numbers of cases. All Maple Leaf facilities continue to operate safely even as team members and their families are impacted by rising COVID-19 cases in local communities.
At Maple Leaf, health and safety is our first priority, the company said. The company notes it has built a comprehensive COVID-19 prevention and safety program that it seeks to strengthen continually. Since the pandemic began, its facilities have transformed how they 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.
These changes can be seen in a video available to view at www.mapleleaffoods.com.
Public health authorities who have visited its facilities for inspections have praised the company’s programs, with one Manitoba public health official remarking that we had “gone above and beyond” public health expectations, the company added.
Maple Leaf Foods also noted that, “…we are providing important reminders to team members urging them to stay focused on COVID-19 prevention. We have encouraged people to seek flu shots, provided tips on safe holiday celebrations and offered guidance on safe carpooling. We have provided face masks to team members to take home and share with family, friends and roommates and distributed 500,000 masks to the Brandon community in August when the community needed them most. Importantly, we have also worked hard to create a “stay home when sick culture.” Our message to our Team Members is this: When you take care of yourself, you take care of all of us.
“We recognize the important responsibility we have to produce food people need during this unprecedented pandemic and we are committed to executing our business with excellence, protecting the health of our people, and being vigilant in mitigating the risk of the spread of the virus.”
For more information, visit www.mapleleaffoods.com
