Press

At AGRANA, our two top priorities are the health of our employees and the ability to deliver our products. Since the end of October, the company has been carrying out voluntary rapid coronavirus tests twice a week at all Austrian sites in order to protect employees and ensure the continuity of our production and supply as far as possible.

We are using COVID-19 antibody tests, which are also regularly carried out by the Samaritan Workers’ Federation, the Red Cross and the Green Cross. They indicate within minutes whether a person is in the contagious phase of a COVID-19 infection. This means that they are very likely to find highly infectious individuals who pose a risk to their environment, possibly without experiencing any coronavirus symptoms themselves. If a rapid test is positive, a PCR test is performed as a follow-up for verification.  The experience of the last six weeks has shown that 96% of the rapid test results have been confirmed. The introduction of the rapid tests has meant that more asymptomatic cases have been identified than previously, which has successfully prevented the virus from spreading in the company.

“These rapid coronavirus tests are very reliable and form a vital aspect of our hygiene and safety concepts because they enable possible chains of infection in the company to be interrupted at an early stage. Our coronavirus protection measures are an expression of our responsibility as a food manufacturer and part of the critical infrastructure. Being able to continue production ensures the supply of our products to the population while safeguarding the jobs of our employees,” says AGRANA Executive Board member and COVID crisis manager Dr. Norbert Harringer.

AGRANA Central Works Council Chairman Thomas Buder also supports the company management's initiative and emphasizes that “the rapid coronavirus tests carried out by AGRANA are important, they are widely accepted by our employees and increase their sense of safety.”

Since the coronavirus tests only provide a temporary snapshot, they are carried out regularly and they supplement the other protection measures implemented in the company. Since the spring, AGRANA has implemented a broad package of coronavirus measures at its sites, including special safety measures like contactless shift handovers, the physical separation of workstations, a reduction in the number of external companies on site, strict guidelines for the use of social rooms and the compulsory wearing of facial masks. At AGRANA in Austria, 15 of our approx. 2,000 employees are currently infected with COVID-19.

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