World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2020: Veolia Africa committed to the safety and health of all its employees

This year's World Day for Safety and Health at Work is dedicated to responding to the rise of infectious diseases in the workplace with a special focus on COVID-19 pandemic. In the world of work, appropriate safety and health measures can be crucial in slowing the virus spread while protecting employees.

Since the beginning of the crisis, Veolia Group has been taking the necessary measures to limit the spread of the virus through safety and prevention. In the Africa zone, each of our subsidiaries is adapting and organizing itself accordingly.

 

In Morocco, in order to ensure continuity of services under the best conditions, Amendis and Redal have taken the following measures, in particular: 

  • Provision of personal equipment for employees in contact with customers 
  • Masks equipment for field workers 
  • Provision of hydroalcoholic gel (premises, agencies, cars...)
  • Installation of glazing at the counters of customer service representatives in sales agencies 
  • Maintaining a safe distance between customer service representatives and customers in branches 
  • Sterilization and frequent cleaning of sites, agencies and service vehicles 

At Redal, the digitalization of services also makes it possible to limit the number of rounds taken by agents for meter reading, and the spread of the disease. 

 

 

In Niger, the government has chosen the lockdown strategy coupled with systematic testing. Since the beginning of the crisis, the SEEN has set up a committee and an evolving emergency plan for business continuity. The priority objective of this plan is to protect employees while ensuring the continuity of drinking water supply to the population. 

The SEEN ensures that the prevention and safety instructions issued by the authorities to combat the pandemic are strictly applied to its employees in the plants, on the network, on the sites, in the laboratories and in the agencies. Among the measures applied:   

 

  • Precautions of a minimum distance of one meter between people 
  • Mandatory hand washing several times a day, with soap and then with gel 
  • Temperature is systematically taken before entering the offices 
  • Prohibition of national and international travel 
  • Site downsizing  

 

In Africa, as everywhere else, the working methods and operations of Veolia's sites have been reorganized to limit the risks of contamination of the employees in the field. In the coming weeks, the aim is also to prepare the conditions for a gradual return to the workplace for employees currently in lockdown, through measures adapted to the situation in each geography.  

 

Find out more:  UN: World Day for Safety and Health at Work