As a food producer and essential life-sustaining business, Bell & Evans will continue to operate with a heightened awareness for team member safety to supply our customers with premium poultry products. Because Bell & Evans is a food manufacturer and certified SQF (safe, quality food), our standard good manufacturing practices (GMPs) exceed recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Bell & Evans also continues to implement CDC recommendations for controlling the spread of COVID-19.
These measures include but are not limited to:
- Permanent dividers installed between Team Members where social distancing guidelines were not practical.
- PPE provided to team members, including face masks and shields.
- Face masks are required PPE for all personnel while on company property.
- Face shields are required PPE, in addition to face masks, where physical barriers could not be installed to support social distancing guidelines.
- Partnered with Johns Hopkins, our on-site medical provider, to conduct symptom screening for personnel entering our facilities. All personnel are required to be temperature screened upon entry of the facility.
- Placed markings on floors in common areas to support the distancing guidelines.
- Implementing symptom screening for all potential team members during the interviewing process.
- Suspending inter-facility travel among team members.
- Restructuring of internal schedule to reduce social interaction.
- Suspending team member travel.
- Restricting visitors to our facilities.
- Implementing work-from-home status for non-essential personnel.
- Requiring mandatory completion of COVID-19 training for management, including identifying symptoms and knowing how to aid and direct team members with symptoms.
- Restricting in-person meetings.
- Daily deep cleaning of facilities including production, common areas and office spaces.
- Requiring sick team members to stay home until cleared by a medical professional to return to work.
- Paid sick leave for team members directly impacted.
- Access to onsite and offsite Bell & Evans wellness clinics to answer and address concerns.
- Segregated retail store hours for the public and team members.
- Posting of all guidelines in English and Spanish
- Encouraging team members to follow CDC recommendations outside of work.
Per the U.S. Food & Drug Administration website, there is no evidence of food or food packaging being associated with transmission of COVID-19. COVID-19 is a virus thought to be spread mainly from person-to-person. For more information on food safety and coronavirus, visit https://www.fda.gov/food/food-safety-during-emergencies/food-safety-and-coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19.
For more information on Coronavirus (COVID-19), visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/.