An update from Maple Lodge Farms regarding the ongoing COVID -19 Pandemic

Keeping our employees and communities safe and healthy remains our top priority. Recently, Maple Lodge Farms (MLF) conducted onsite employee COVID-19 vaccination clinics at all 3 of our Peel region facilities, in collaboration with the Province and Peel Public Health.

Along with the Brampton Board of Trade, Food and Beverage Ontario, and several other large regional employers, MLF worked hard to advance the concept of employer-operated workplace vaccination clinics to promote employees’ vaccine participation by making vaccination easy and accessible. In total we vaccinated more than 1200 employees over 5 days. Additionally, MLF sponsored a community clinic, in collaboration with the Region of Peel, at the Malton Masjid, which ran for 8 days last month.

It is anticipated that second onsite employee vaccination clinics will be held within the next few weeks, in order to administer employees their second dose of vaccine.  MLF will fund the program, retain a third-party health care provider to deliver the vaccinations, and supply the volunteers to operate the clinic.

In the interim, as the threat of the virus persists, we continue to impress upon our employees the importance of carefully practicing all of the preventive measures put in place in our workplace, and following the advice of Public Health outside of work, in order to keep themselves safe.

Some of the infection control measures we have put in place in the workplace include the following:

• We have suspended all visitors to our facility outside of those deemed essential to the operation of our business for example, contractors and delivery drivers
• We maintain a strict screening policy, ensuring only healthy people enter our workplace
• We require all employees and essential visitors to wear masks at all times in all areas of our facilities
• We conduct random mass COVID-19 testing to detect asymptomatic spread, as necessary
• We have added temporary lunchroom spaces and equipped all common spaces with multiple, portable hand-washing and sanitization stations
• We have imposed physical distancing measures in our common spaces including the installation of Plexiglas shields in between adjacent seating areas in our cafeteria
• We have equipped all of our production employees with personal protective equipment over and above that which may be required in the course of their usual duties, including masks, face shields, aprons, and gloves
• We have staggered our production shifts for better physical distancing
• We have implemented precautionary and frequent deep cleaning initiatives and added ongoing cleaning rotations for frequently used areas/surfaces to our already rigorous sanitation procedures
• We communicate openly and frequently with our employees through bulletins, letters and tv monitors in common spaces to keep them informed and provide them information on handwashing and other hygiene measures, as well as tips on how to stay safe outside of the workplace
• We work closely with local Public Health Agencies and the Ministry of Labour to ensure our infection control measures are effective and up-to-date
• We meet weekly with our onsite CFIA management team to share information and establish collaborative efforts to keep all of our employees safe
• We work together with the rest of our industry to share knowledge and develop best practices, and continue to consult with health experts and regulators to ensure that we are doing the best possible job in combating the spread of this disease

We remain committed to ensuring our workplace is safe and fulfilling the high consumer demand for healthy, safe, best-quality chicken.