Grupa Azoty Group at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021
Our products contribute to ensuring food security of Poland and many other countries around the world.
Our products contribute to ensuring food security of Poland and many other countries around the world. For this reason, despite high costs incurred to adequately protect its employees against the pandemic, the Grupa Azoty Group was one of few chemical manufacturers that did not halt their operations. This, in turn, ensured continued production of food by our customers, i.e. farmers and agricultural producers.
We were taking appropriate measures to protect our employees ever since the state of epidemic had been declared in Poland. We set up a task team for minimising the risk of a coronavirus spread and a crisis management team. All instances of COVID infections among our employees were investigated. We also developed detailed instructions on how to behave safely in the pandemic situation, including how to apply disinfectants and hand sanitizers, use common space and give over duties in a shift-work system. Where required, we used ozone treatments and installed flow UV lamps. We have limited face-to-face contacts by offering our office staff an option to work from home. All recommendations and procedures were communicated to employees when needed, in a newsletter and over the intranet.
BEST PRACTICE
We respond to problems and concerns voiced by the management and employees on an ongoing basis. Examples include our initiative in Puławy, where in response to requests from our employees we made arrangements with the Municipal Transport Company regarding the city bus service to reduce crowds on buses used by employees commuting to and from work.
In an effort to protect people’s health and safety, in July 2021 the Grupa Azoty Group became a Partner of the National Vaccination Campaign Lottery.
Specific activities of the Grupa Azoty Group:
- Grupa Azoty Puławy and the Material Reserves Agency signed a contract for the supply of COOLANT®, i.e. dry ice for the transport and storage of vaccines against COVID-19. Prior to signing the contract, tests were performed to confirm that the product manufactured in Puławy was suitable for vaccine logistics.
- Two laminar flow cabinets, worth PLN 100 thousand, used directly for preventing and fighting COVID-19, were transferred to the Laboratory of the Department of Forensic Genetics at the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin. Laminar flow cabinets are used for sterile laboratory work. This is where the process of describing and preparing for isolation virus RNA takes place. The purchase was financed by Grupa Azoty Police.
- Grupa Azoty S.A. is one of four state-owned companies which enrolled in the pilot COVID-19 vaccination programme. Starting from early April, vaccination consent declarations were collected from employees of Grupa Azoty S.A. Grupa Azoty Police joined the programme a month later.
- In Kędzierzyn Koźle, ‘A Sound Mind in a Sound Body’ event was organised to promote the ‘Let’s get the jab done’ vaccine campaign. Grupa Azoty Kędzierzyn was the event partner, and the Golec uOrkiestra band was the star of the evening. However, the most important thing was to encourage people to get vaccinated – each attendee had the opportunity to have a COVID-19 vaccine administered at a mobile vaccination unit.
- Grupa Azoty Kędzierzyn donated almost PLN 90 thousand to the Independent Healthcare Complex in Biała in the Province of Opole for continued fight against the coronavirus.
- Grupa Azoty Kędzierzyn co-financed the purchase of a cardiac monitor for a hyperbaric chamber and financed the purchase of electrocardiogram equipment for two infectious disease hospital wards at the Healthcare Complex in Nysa.
