Fear of corona infection when factories are stopped for maintenance

- We plan because we have to act differently. It's about social distances, arranging changing rooms and planning this with the food, how and where to eat, says Håkan Krantz, factory manager Billerud Korsnäs in Skärblacka.

At the same time, there are several other paper mills in the country that have had production stoppages in the past.

- There are many ahead of us, so we can learn from them, says Håkan Krantz.

700 people will work during the repair stop, which takes place for a week in Skärblacka in October. These are mainly Scandinavian hired contractors.

In June, a corona outbreak occurred in Gällivare, which according to the infection control doctor started in the mine. According to the newspaper ATL, Lantbruket's business newspaper, it was precisely at a rope stop in the mine that covid-19 became widespread. To avoid something like this happening in connection with BillerudKorsnäs' maintenance shutdown around the country, the company has prepared the shutdown in close cooperation with the municipalities and infection control units in the regions.

- We have also invested in informing our contractors in good time so they know what rules of conduct apply before they come to these smaller towns, says Louise Wileen Bjarke who is press manager at Billerud Korsnäs.

She further says that there has been some concern among the employees, before the maintenance stoppage in the factories.

- I know there has been concern. In Gävle, for example, the HR department received quite a lot of questions from the employees who were worried and asked how we can guarantee that they are not infected. We can never guarantee that any employee will not be infected, but we do everything we can to prevent them from becoming so, she says.

Billerud Korsnäs has five factories in Sweden, as well as one in England and one in Finland.

On Gotland, a maintenance stop is planned at the Cementa cement factory on 28 August. The factory plans to bring in 20 hired contractors, 10 of whom live and work on the island.

"Measures that will be taken are that the contractors who do not already live on the island will live in separate cottages during the intended period," writes Isabelle Zilling at the communications department at the factory in an email.

The hired contractors will also not have access to eat in the dining room, but they can instead order lunch boxes that can be picked up.