Ensuring the health of our employees, contractors and partners is our highest priority. To help curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, we follow the guidelines issued by the Government of Finland and by our parent company, Anglo American Plc.
In line with the recommendations issued by the Government of Finland on March 12, our employees began working remotely from March 14 onwards. Our office in Sodankylä is closed until further notice, and entry to the office is allowed only for carrying out essential maintenance work.
For certain activities, our field operations continue largely as before, as the work sites are remotely located, and shifts can be changed without coming into physical contact. We have issued separate work safety guidelines and guidelines on actions to be taken in case of a suspected COVID-19 infection for our contractors. We observe the guidelines for employees to prevent COVID-19 infection issued by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and the instructions issued by our parent company with all our employees and contractors.
We exercise caution in our operations. We avoid unnecessary meetings, and we expect all employees to take care of good hand hygiene. Vehicles, machines and devices must be meticulously cleaned during and after their operation, and physical meetings with other employees during field work is to be avoided. Before starting work, we require that the contractors’ representatives fill a form declaring that they have not travelled abroad in the past 14 days and that they do not have symptoms characteristic to the COVID-19 novel coronavirus, such as a fever, cough, shortness of breath or muscle pain. More information on the symptoms is available on the website of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).
We continue to take care of our employees’ health and safety while working remotely. We check up on our employees daily to make sure that everyone remains healthy and in good spirits. We are lucky that modern technology allows us to hold even large meetings from our home offices without major hiccups.
We are constantly monitoring the development of the epidemic situation in Finland and for any updates in the guidelines issued by the Finnish authorities. Up to date information on the COVID-19 novel coronavirus epidemic in Finland is available on the website of THL: thl.fi/en/web/thlfi-en
We hope that everyone continues to follow the authorities’ instructions in order to curb the spread of the virus.
Guidelines for citizens on how to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus can be read here: https://aineistopankki.thl.fi/l/wPLfm-RHjMq7