Measures taken by HS Timber Group in the context of COVID-19

HS Timber Group values the health and safety of its employees and the communities it activates in. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, our company is in permanent contact with relevant Authorities in order to prevent a possible contamination of our employees and to provide a safe work environment.

HS Timber Group has implemented the following measures:

Informative & educational measures:

• Constant briefing of all employees about prevention measures with guiding instructions and information on how to protect themselves and their families at the workplace and at home.
• Constant briefing of all employees about measures taken by Romanian Authorities.
• Conditions for work from home have been provided for employees who can work outside the factories, by providing computers and Internet connections to the internal network of the factories.
• People who have children in care can stay home during the time of school closure following the state emergency, in accordance with Law 19/14.03.2020.
• If, for personal reasons, employees wish to stop coming to work in these challenging times they can apply for furlough.

Transport measures:

• The company offers the employees financial and logistic support for safe transport to and from work, either with a personal vehicle, or with the minibuses of the company, complying with very strict security measures.
• Limitation of the number of employees using public transport means. In this regard, an internal decision has been issued, which fully deducts the fuel costs for the employees who come with their own car.
• The transport company operating the transport of employees has been informed since the beginning of the state of emergency to carry out disinfection of the means of transport after each trip.
• Each minibus has displayed the general rules for combating the infection with coronavirus causing COVID-19. Each minibus has disinfectant solutions on board.
• Every employee who uses public transportation or comes to work with their own car along with other colleagues, will receive protective masks and gloves.

Working measures:

• Starting 01.04.2020, locker rooms will be closed for the entire duration of the state of emergency.
• Separation measures have been taken, so that employees do not meet on shift change. During the shift change, the drivers of the transport company disinfect the minibuses.
• In each work area of the mill and offices, there are disinfectants and the distance between persons is delimited to at least 1.5 m.
• Disinfection is carried out on a weekly basis with a specialized company, in all common locations (administrative building, locker rooms, lunch rooms, toilets).
• Work stations in each shift have been reorganized, to reduce contact between team members and the risk of contamination.
• Separate entry/exit lanes from the factory have been established so that contact between staff from different shifts can be reduced to a minimum and that a distance of at least 1.5 m can be guaranteed.
• Access to the lunch rooms has been reorganized so that, staff can keep the distance of at least 1.5 m recommended by the authorities. The available seats in the lunch room have been marked, to indicate exactly where the employees can stay.

“In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are actively supporting the local communities and authorities with sanitary equipment to help prevent the spreading of the virus and we will intensify our efforts in the weeks to come,” said Dan Bănacu, General Manager of HS Timber Productions.

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