XEAL continues to work to ensure safety and prevent the spread of coronavirus

XEAL, Xallas Electricidad y Aleaciones, continues to take measures to increase the safety of its workers , extending the action protocol already implemented at the beginning of March.

The aforementioned protocol, which began to be implemented on March 2, has been extended and was supported by UGT and CGT members at the meeting between the Company and the Committee held last Friday, March 13; it came into force before the Spanish Government decreed the state of alarm.

XEAL reports that all these decisions are always based on complying and preserving the safety of the people working in the company and the rest of the people in the region. All the measures taken have been shared with the Health and Safety Committee, agreed with the Medical Service and follow the recommendations of the authorities to deal with this pandemic, always bearing in mind the welfare of the workforce.

The company has set up a Coronavirus Crisis Committee that meets daily to assess the situation and take appropriate measures since, as is well known, the situation changes from day to day.

In this way, masks and PPE have been distributed to ensure that workers can perform their work in optimal health safety conditions, following the indications imposed by the Government for handling the Coronavirus.

Another precaution taken has been the closure of catering services, offered until now by the company, imposed as a mandatory measure in application of the state of alarm(Royal Decree 463/2020, March 14).

Strict hygiene measures, cleaning and disinfection of the control rooms at the end of each shift have also been applied.

XEAL is also urgently arranging to provide workers with a commuting certificate to be presented to the competent authorities when traveling from home to work and vice versa.

Another measure has been to provide computers to facilitate teleworking in administrative positions, encouraging, whenever possible, the employee to remain at home. To this end, the company has acquired 21 computers.

More importantly, in the Cee and Dumbría factories, as well as in the hydroelectric plants, XEAL has implemented,  anew temporary shift system for those employees who are unable to work from home, with the sole objective of protecting health, preventing contagion and guaranteeing the safety of each person in his or her workplace against the coronavirus.

In strict compliance with current legislation, under the supervision of the company doctor and always taking into account the risk groups, production has been concentrated in two furnaces, one in each plant, and the groups of operators have been divided into alternating periods of fourteen days of work and fourteen days of preventive quarantine. Thus, while the first team is in the production plants, the second is at home in preventive quarantine, complying with the recommendations and instructions imposed by the Government.

The same protocol has also been implemented in the hydroelectric power plants, with 14-day rotating shifts, to minimize the presence of operators and thus try to minimize the risk of contagion.

All of the above has no economic impact on the employees and is focused on preserving their own health and safety of the workers as well as the rest of the region's population, given that XEAL is one of the area's biggest employers. 

COVID-19 is a globalhealth emergency that was declared a pandemic on March 11 by the World Health Organization (WHO).

XEAL's management is counting on the collaboration and responsibility of all employees to combat the spread of the coronavirus while maintaining economic activity and is fully committed to constant dialogue in order to promptly implement any needs of its workforce.

"It is time to join forces," XEAL's management explained.