Oceania Dairy keeps an eye on Covid-19

The company has stopped all non-critical travel for staff and is trialling work-from-home measures where possible following recent developments in the spread of Covid-19.

Oceania general manager Richard Hickson said as a direct employer of up to 400 people from the South Canterbury and North Otago region, Oceania was strongly aware of its responsibilities to keep people well and remain employed.

“We’re a young and innovative company and we’re proud of the fact that we are an important employer for many of our community. But this event is unprecedented in New Zealand and so we are moving quickly each day to adapt in order to keep everyone well and employed,’’ Hickson said.

Hickson said the company was extremely proud of the way all its staff had been working together to support each other, Oceania’s suppliers and the extended Oceania community.

“We know how much our employees depend on us, but we also appreciate how much the larger community, including our suppliers and contractors, rely on us for their livelihood,’’ he said.

Oceania staff are also being asked to restrict travel in their own time to avoid spread of the infection and to advise the company if they have travelled, while non-essential visits to the Glenavy site have also been halted.

The measures come at a time when demand for Oceania’s products remains strong in the face of rising demand from China with minimal disruption to supply chains.

Hickson said this was a stressful time for everyone in the community and staff at ODL were able to access free counselling if they needed to.

Since the start of the outbreak, Oceania Dairy has requested all staff to self-isolate following overseas travel to known areas of the outbreak. Staff have also been asked to identify if they have a close relationship with someone who has recently returned from overseas or has been identified as having Covid-19.

The company has introduced a range of measures which will be reviewed daily subject to Ministry of Health advice.