Snap-on responds to questions surrounding COVID-19
Published 5:12 pm Friday, April 17, 2020
Statement from Snap-on:
An associate in our Elizabethton, TN manufacturing facility tested “negative” for COVID-19 after experiencing symptoms associated with the virus earlier in the week.
Last week, an associate in the facility tested positive for COVID-19, after being exposed to the virus through a contact outside of the work setting. The associate has not been in the building since March 25th. (Fourteen days is the CDC recognized quarantine period.)
Associates identified as having had close contact with the affected co-worker were asked to self-quarantine for the prescribed period, showed no signs of the virus, cleared to come back to work, and have been back on the job since April 12.
Overall, we are following CDC guidelines with increased cleaning efforts at the facility, which include sanitizing throughout the plant on a 24-hour basis; practicing social distancing; staggering shift changes and breaks, and asking anyone with COVID-19-related symptoms to stay home.
When an associate in one of our facilities has a positive test result or presumed positive diagnosis, our protocol is to
-Close access to the associate’s work area.
-Inform personnel in the facility.
-Identify all associates that had direct contact with the individual, and those who had direct contact are sent home and asked to follow CDC guidelines for self-quarantining and to seek medical attention if needed.
In any case, where an associate has been identified for quarantine by a medical practitioner or appropriate authority as well as any associate identified as having had direct contact with that individual, Snap-on is providing their full pay and benefits for the CDC recognized quarantine period.
-Engage special outside cleaning services to disinfect and sanitize the associate’s work areas utilizing processes and products that meet all EPA and CDC guidelines pertaining to COVID-19. This is beyond the elevated, ongoing and regular cleaning already occurring.
Any associate who cannot work from home and is personally uncomfortable reporting to work has the option to either utilize vacation with full pay or take unpaid time off without prior notice and without any attendance penalties.
Snap-on strives to remain open and operational, maintaining the viability of critical infrastructure and entities like the U.S. military, vehicle repair garages, and transportation fleets…all of which enable crucial activities such as emergency services, food delivery, distribution of medical supplies, and a variety of other vital needs.
These are activities that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has identified as “essential” within its guidance on the Identification of Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers During COVID-19.
