Free self-testing for all employees to protect against Corona

Maintaining operations with as few restrictions as possible during the corona pandemic is of utmost importance to BALLERSTAEDT, as it also supplies customers from the pharmaceutical industry who are significantly involved in the development of corona testing capabilities. To make this possible, the company is committed to a responsible approach to the health of all employees. Therefore, since March 2021, all employees who work on site and not in the home office have been testing themselves with rapid antigen tests before starting work. The barcoded and hygienically packaged rapid tests are collected on site, where software specially programmed by the company’s IT department is used to check whether all persons present can prove a negative self-test. Currently, testing is carried out at 48-hour intervals, with daily testing planned if there is a sufficient supply of rapid tests.

In addition to this newly introduced protective measure, the company has already been issuing free everyday masks to its employees since April 2020. Since December 2020, the company has switched to FFP2 masks. Furthermore, air filter devices were purchased that reduce the virus load in the breathing air to a minimum by means of H14 high-performance special filters. These measures are supplemented by comprehensive hygiene and disinfection plans and a reduction in the number of contacts on site. Where work was previously carried out in single-shift operation, since the emergence of the Corona pandemic work has been carried out at least in two shifts and in fixed groups. In addition, extensive investments were made in hardware and software last year, which enabled all employees – where possible – to move their work to home offices in a very short time in order to minimize the number of contacts.

Thanks to these measures, the company has not recorded a single corona case to date and is able to supply its customers as usual. A big thank you goes to the in-house IT department, which has strongly promoted the digitization of the company in recent months, as well as to the entire workforce for their willingness to fight together against the spread of the corona virus.