(UPM, Paso de los Toros, 26 May 2020) – Starting from May UPM will manage transport and food services for workers at the UPM Paso de los Toros mill construction site in central Uruguay. Until now these services have been provided separately by each contractor company. This change in the service management follows the project plan and has been coordinated with the local and national authorities to ensure uniform, high quality services to all workers.
Focus on nutritional quality and food safety
The menus offered will respond to a careful nutritional planning prepared by a team of nutritionists and food engineers guaranteeing variety and quality of food. Strict compliance with food safety and hygiene measures are established by national and local regulations.
Different measures aimed at mitigating the spread of COVID-19 are established. Lunch will be divided by sectors in different dining rooms or in shifts, which will avoid concentration of people. The areas will be disinfected before and after each use, in every shift. Physical distance will be ensured by implementing table dividers. In line with caring for the environment, the service will eliminate the use of plastic bottles and will instead offer reusable cups and provide industrial water dispensers for hydration for all workers on the site.
Safe transport system
A new transportation service is exclusively created for the transfer of workers to and from the construction site covering Paso de los Toros, Pueblo Centenario, Carlos Reyles and Durazno city. Each location will have necessary amount of buses to transport all the workers considering the shifts and characteristics of each boarding point.
“The buses will be modern with all the necessary comforts; air conditioning, reclining pullman seats, satellite tracking, access by electronic system and a channel for complaints of non-compliance or violation of rules”, said Martín Torielli, responsible for Regional Services at the construction site.
At the first stage, approximately 17 buses will be operating for the transfer of workers, who will make a total of 21 round trips. At the peak of the construction, about 100 buses will be in use. The new system will continue with the strict compliance of the recommendations made by the Ministry of Public Health and those indicated by the Tripartite Commission on Safety and Hygiene in the Construction Industry for prevention in relation to COVID-19.
These measures involve ensuring social distancing within the buses, disinfection before and after each trip, availability of gel alcohol dispensers in all units and ensuring that all drivers wear gloves and masks all the time. To avoid crowds, the amount of bus stops will be increased in towns.
"We understand the management of services from a comprehensive perspective, where all aspects are carefully considered, designed based on the care of workers and responsible integration with the community," concluded Torielli.
For further information please contact:
bcw | burson cohn & wolfe (+598) 27100757