How we keep our people and our products safe

We have taken preventative measures to protect our ~9,000 employees and their families, so that we can ensure the flow of essential personal hygiene products to people in care and shelter-at-home situations.

While the situation is evolving rapidly and specific country measures can apply per site, we have put in place general expectations and actions for our sites:

Access to vaccines

Ontex sites support access to vaccination for employees, following local laws and regulations. For example, in order to facilitate access to the vaccine against COVID-19, a vaccination campaign was organized at the Ontex offices in Algeria.

Cleaning & disinfection

Each site (office and plants) has developed a daily, in-depth cleaning and disinfection protocol with focus on surfaces that are frequently touched, including but not limited to door handles, hand rails, phones or surfaces exposed to respiratory droplets from sneezing and coughing.

Social distancing

At all sites, employees have been instructed and trained to respect social distancing.

Preventive measures for employees

Soap and water, hand sanitizers, protective gloves and face masks are available at all sites.

Training

A central SharePoint has been created for employees to share all guidelines and information related to COVID-19 and the guidelines in place for their sites. This includes travel management, health and wellbeing guidelines, and answers to frequently asked questions.

Working Remotely and Travel

Work from home arrangements have been made where possible. Work-related planned and booked travel has been cancelled in areas with Covid-19 risk and all other travel needs to be approved after a risk assessment, including the Covid-19 risk.

Managing sick employees

Employees who have symptoms of acute respiratory illness are instructed to stay at home and not come to work. Employees notify their supervisor and are advised to call in for medical attention and self isolate.
Employees who have confirmed to have COVID-19 must remain away from work for a minimum of 14 days and may only return to work after medical clearance. A risk assessment is made to assess the exposure of co-workers and actions (such as quarantine, self-monitoring, workplace disinfection) are taken to minimize the risk of spreading the virus.

How we keep our products safe

Ontex enforces strict and specific COVID-19 personal hygiene rules, communicated to workers, combined with preventive and regular deep-cleaning of our facilities.

Our absorbent hygiene products are produced on rapid assembly lines, which are highly automated. Potential sources of contamination are continuously evaluated as part of a risk assessment and eliminated immediately.

Ontex operates according to well-defined hygiene rules as part of the ISO 9001, ISO 13485, BRC CP and IFS certified quality management systems.

We are confident that the measures taken meet our obligation to you and the communities we serve, ensuring the daily flow of millions of personal hygiene products to your company, hospitals, nursing homes and people in shelter-at-home situations.