Thai Union implements COVID-19 tests for all its employees in Samut Sakhon Factories remain open and operational at capacity
6 January 2564, BANGKOK – Thai Union is proactively implementing COVID-19 testing at its own cost for its more than 27,000 employees in Samut Sakhon as the company continues to focus on its highest priority - health and safety standards for both its people and operations.
As of 5 January 2021, more than 85% of these employees (23,630 out of 27,552 employees) have been tested – with just 69 (0.29%) being confirmed as positive by PCR testing - with the remaining employee testing expected to be completed by next week. Those infected employees have been quarantined and if they show any symptoms, they will be treated as appropriate by the authorities.
“Each and every one of our employees in Samut Sakhon will receive a COVID-19 test. This is to ensure the health and safety of our people, regardless of age, sex and nationality, while ensuring the continuity of our operations,” said Thiraphong Chansiri, CEO of Thai Union Group.
Thai Union continues to follow all Health Ministry guidelines and protocols, with impacted employees placed in quarantine and contact tracing underway by the authorities. The company continues to closely monitor the situation and work with authorities in this regard.
“We have comprehensive protocols in place in case of positive test results; these protocols include ensuring taking care of the affected employees while isolating them according to government guidelines, identifying and testing close contacts and deep cleaning of visited work areas,” added Chansiri. “It is very important to note that, due to the extremely small number of impacted employees, all Thai Union’s factories currently remain open and operational at capacity.”
As the health and wellbeing of all Thai Union employees, partners, suppliers, customers and local communities remains the company’s top priority, following the rise of COVID-19 infections in Samut Sakhon, Thai Union has increased its already rigorous health and safety measures including health screening processes at the entrance of all facilities. Operations are all ongoing but in-person meetings for employees, contractors and visitors are cut down to essential business and only with permission from the management team.
The company limits employee movement among working locations within factories and manages support functions to work from home. Regular sanitization process both for workplace and work force is in place. The preparedness includes drills and business continuity plans. All measures are to ensure the highest health and safety standard of our people, products and production.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) as well as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, there is virtually no risk of infection spread via food products or food packaging. “I have full confidence in the extremely strict safety and health policies in place at all our facilities to protect against any contamination, including contamination from virus and infection,” Chansiri said.
Thai Union remained committed to helping the communities where it operates. “A large number of people are being negatively impacted by the current COVID-19 outbreak in the Samut Sakhon area. We are also supporting the local authorities, who are putting all their efforts and resources into fighting this pandemic, and we remain confident that, together, we will soon be able to overcome this challenging situation,” Chansiri concluded.
About Thai Union Group
Thai Union Group PCL is the world’s seafood leader bringing high quality, healthy, tasty and innovative seafood products to customers across the world for more than 40 years.
Today, Thai Union is regarded as one of the world’s leading seafood producers and is one of the largest producers of shelf-stable tuna products with annual sales exceeding THB 126.3 billion (US$ 4.1 billion) and a global workforce of over 44,000 people who are dedicated to pioneering sustainable, innovative seafood products.
The company’s global brand portfolio includes market-leading international brands such as Chicken of the Sea, John West, Petit Navire, Parmentier, Mareblu, King Oscar, and Rügen Fisch and Thai-leading brands SEALECT, Fisho, Qfresh, Monori, Bellotta and Marvo.
As a company committed to innovation and globally responsible behavior, Thai Union is proud to be a member of the United Nations Global Compact, and a founding member of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF). In 2015, Thai Union introduced its SeaChange® sustainability strategy.
Find out more at seachangesustainability.org. Thai Union’s on-going work on sustainability issues was recognized in 2018 and 2019 by being ranked number one in the world in the Food Products Industry in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, achieving a 100th percentile ranking for total sustainability score. Thai Union has now been named to the DJSI for seven consecutive years. Thai Union was also named to the FTSE4Good Emerging Index for the fifth straight year in 2020.