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There are no active cases of COVID-19 in meat factories and 95% of workers that were affected by the virus are now back at work, Meat Industry Ireland (MII) director Cormac Healy has said.
He told RTÉ’s Today with Sarah McInerney on Friday that the situation has “vastly improved”.
“There are no active cases and equally thankfully 96% of those staff that were affected throughout the last number of weeks are back at work and others are recovering and completing out their isolation.
“There’s a suite of measures in place, right from the beginning of this, despite what has been said. Advice has been taken, measures have been increased as we’ve gone along and all learnt about this.
“On distancing, where possible in certain parts of the plant where distancing is a challenge, things like separation Perspex screens have been put in, where at all possible the distance between workers has been increased and even, despite production being by and large maintained, production lines are being slowed down in cases as well,” he said.
Fears
Two factory workers were interviewed on the show, highlighting their concerns about working in their respective factories. In response to one of the factory workers saying that she doesn’t feel safe in the factory she works in, Healy said a lot of improvement has taken place in meat plants around the country in terms of action being taken.
“We understand people will have fears and that’s why the priority has to be the safety of staff and the confidence of staff. That’s why the temperature screening of staff coming in, distancing where possible and constant advice and reminders,” he said.
There’s no room for complacency - vigilance is absolutely critical
Healy said he is confident the situation in place today has greatly improved compared to when the workers were first interviewed a number of weeks ago.
“We do not have [active cases in our plants]. There’s been a lot of work gone on to achieve that and the one clear message to all our members in Meat Industry Ireland is there’s no room for complacency - vigilance is absolutely critical.”
Inspections
When asked if he would be supportive of unannounced inspections, he said “absolutely”.
“For our plants, we have a permanent Department of Agriculture presence. The Department of Agriculture has been working closely with the HSE in the national outbreak control team and they are verifying what is going on.
“It’s not a case of what’s going on today and what’s going on tomorrow. Let’s be clear, nobody can afford to have a lax approach on these measures. You can’t have them one day and not another day, because you know the risks you run of it.”
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