Concerns from the Blayney community workers from Sydney at the Blayney Purina Pet Care Factory are a COVID risk have been allayed by Nestlé's Head of Corporate Affairs Margaret Stuart.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
"Nestlé takes the health and safety of our employees and the communities we operate in very seriously. We are careful to follow health orders thoroughly, and in many cases, to go beyond them," she said.
"There are a number of people working on our Blayney site during the week who return to their homes in the greater Sydney area on the weekend.
"We acknowledge that there have been some concerns raised regarding this.
"Noting that the health orders allow people to leave home for work that they can't do at home, we have allowed workers to travel to our site only when we have positive confirmation that they have not visited any exposure sites.
"Everyone is temperature scanned before they enter the site each day and is required to wear a mask at all times, and the site's operations are carefully managed to maintain social distancing as part of the site COVID-19 Safety plan."
We will continue to operate with an abundance of caution, and to take our responsibility to the community seriously.
- Nestlé's Head of Corporate Affairs Margaret Stuart
Mrs Stuart said the conditions go beyond when they're on site.
"When not on site, anyone who has been in greater Sydney since Monday, June 21 is required to follow the regulations that apply to the greater Sydney area.
"This includes wearing masks, and only leaving home for reasons including buying essentials, exercise and work that can't be performed at home."
There have been concerns Nestle themselves have booked the accommodation on behalf of the contractors who were unable because of the restrictions, however Mrs Stuart said that is not the case.
"Nestlé has not directly booked accommodation for workers, but we understand that accommodation providers are taking additional steps such as changing cleaning schedules to ensure that premises remain clean and the local community is protected," she said.
"We will continue to operate with an abundance of caution, and to take our responsibility to the community seriously."
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.centralwesterndaily.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Catch up on our news headlines at Google News
HAVE YOUR SAY
- Send us a letter to the editor using the form below ...