Phillips Carbon Black Limited combats COVID-19

COVID-19, a global pandemic, has impacted mankind in an unforeseen way. Phillips Carbon Black Limited (PCBL), like any corporate house of repute, had instantly geared up to ensure the safety of the employees’ health at the workplace. The Company started taking necessary precautionary measures, at its Head Office and plants from early March 2020 through an awareness campaign.

Hand sanitization and creating awareness through e-posters in English and four regional languages (Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati and Malayalam) had become the new standard practice at all locations. A large number of employees commuting by public transport were provided office transportation even before the Janata Curfew was announced on 22nd March, which was followed by the nationwide lockdown from 25th March 2020. 

PCBL plants, R&D Centres in India and Europe, and offices across the globe were closed, as per guidelines. During the lockdown period, the Senior Leadership Team connected with groups of employees over the virtual video platform. These sessions were called as the 'Connecting with People' series.

The objective of these sessions were to keep them abreast about the business situation, keep the morale high, understand the challenges faced while on ‘Work From Home’ (WFH), and seek appropriate solutions. 

'PCBL All Together', a closed group on Facebook, was created to keep the employees connected with one another, and facilitate their engagement activities during quarantine. ‘The Quarantine Times’, a weekly e-newsletter was introduced to keep the employees updated on diverse subjects during the lockdown phase. All these initiatives have now become a part of the “New Normal” for Team PCBL.

An AI chatbot (named Leena) was deployed across the organisation to capture the mood and morale of employees during lockdown and also to assess the deployment of the COVID guidelines across locations.

The permission for plant operations was made available from 14th April 2020, and to ensure smooth operations at the units, at all levels, PCBL embraced numerous initiatives on the ‘New Normal’ practices in the space of ‘Health & Safety’. A set of norms are followed before and after reaching the plants in form of wearing masks, standing in a queue while maintaining social distancing, hand sanitization before getting inside the bus; seating order maintained from the last row till the one right at the front; plant forklifts, office and personal vehicles sanitization at the entry point. 

Social Distancing is maintained in all the sections of the plant from the entry itself. Clearly designated spots are created in every departmental office as well as walkways to ensure compliance.

A ‘COVID 19 Prevention Checksheet’ is maintained by the Security personnel. The document is a record of thermal scanning, health and travel history of all employees, incoming tanker/ truck drivers and the visitors. Any deviation noted is reported to the local HR Head immediately for action, as per the guidelines.

An online ‘COVID-19 Dashboard’ intranet portal has been developed, which is a database of all the details of the COVID-19 Prevention Checksheets from the four units and Head Office. The repository of all these necessary details and the trends of the important parameters can be viewed over a time period by the authorized persons in the Company. 

Employees, who are entering the units in uniforms, masks and other safety PPEs inside the factories, are encouraged to install the Arogya Setu app, launched by the Government. The Flu Manager who oversees the procedure regarding the employees’ health conditions at the plant premises, reviews the data in the register and if there is any concern regarding the employee’s health then he immediately applies the SOP outlined for such situations.

The COVID Task Forces at all units ensure that the related guidelines mentioned on the posters and kiosks are adhered to and the compliances are sincerely maintained. In order to sensitize people so that they maintain compliance at all levels, the shift-in-charge personnel at each unit guide the employees through his "Toolbox Talk" during every shift on do’s and don’ts on personal hygiene and screening of vehicles, people and other health concerns.

The rooms, doors (usually kept open to avoid physical contact), windows, table tops, and other surfaces are sanitized and the floors are mopped once in every four hours. The employees consistently disinfect their personal devices with Isopropyl alcohol, touch the switches and valves with gloved hands, frequently wash their hands, and handle documents with surgical gloves both at the main entrance and inside the plant premises.

The pantry people serve food during lunchtime wearing face masks, caps and gloves. Covered bins are kept for disposal of masks and tissues. The security, warehouse, dispatch, canteen are under constant CCTV surveillance.

The oil tankers and finished goods trucks are also sanitized; drivers and their assistants undergo thermal scanning while the security personnel fills up the Covid Check-Up sheet for the duo right after entry or prior to their departure from the plant premises. The ‘New Normal’ during the tough times, has become the ‘New Way of Life’ that PCBL has diligently embraced. 

The ‘New Normal’ has become an integral part of the Company’s culture. With 25.4% employees attending office (balance in the WFH mode) to ensure smooth operations at the plants, Company premises getting sanitized with disinfectants, washing and sanitization of hands, wearing of Company provided masks, maintenance of social distancing, working hours till 1700 hours have started from 1st June 2020 in the Lockdown 5.0 stage. 

Besides following the ‘New Normal’ across locations, PCBL has also acted as a responsible corporate citizen by contributing to the PM Cares Fund and distributed essentials to the needy segment of the society, at the unit levels.

The Company had maintained all the COVID-19 guidelines while observing Environment Day on 5th June - the theme of which was to ‘Celebrate Biodiversity’. 

To know more about PCBL’s ‘New Normal’ initiatives, visit us at: https://youtu.be/SnL_gxpqN44