Mowi providing more than 500,000 meals a day

Mowi Scotland is managing to deliver a steady supply of salmon to retailers, providing more than 500,000 meals a day during the coronavirus crisis.

Although many of its employees are working remotely, the company, as a food producer, has a number of \’key workers\’ across its different departments.

Mowi Scotland’s head of HR, Joanna Peeling, told the firm’s newsletter, The Scoop, that those meeting the government’s definition of key workers included staff directly involved in producing feed for salmon; farmers who are responsible for the fish in their care; and processing teams, along with those supporting them with vessels and logistics.

Additional health and safety measures have been put in place for these employees, such as adjustments to shift start and finish times, so there is a clear break between one group of people leaving and the next arriving.

Other new arrangements include break adjustments to enable social distancing to be practised in communal areas, such as kitchens and canteens; and installing additional hand sanitisers to enhance existing handwashing facilities.

All non-essential business travel and all non-essential visits to farm sites has been stopped as well, said Peeling, adding that Mowi is working to update all workers regularly with clear and comprehensive information on work related risks in their area.

There are regular team briefings, with updated information and health posters on display across all sites.

‘Both the UK and Scottish governments have reiterated the vital role that food producers play in the wellbeing of the nation, and have said we should, if possible, keep going,’ said Peeling.

‘Obviously, for staff that can work from home, we have done everything we can to make this transition as seamless as possible, providing new equipment, hardware and software as quickly as we can source it.

‘The supply chain for technology comes largely from overseas so, for example, new laptops or mobile phones are not easily available at the moment, but it is an ongoing process and we are prioritising according to the business critical nature of each request.

‘In addition, we are asking managers to be as supportive and flexible as they can in finding ways to allow those with caring responsibilities to carry on working.’

The company said it is supporting individual working arrangements for key workers who have no access to childcare, and offering support for those who usually car share on their commute.

‘Of course, it will be a considerable time yet before things get back to normal, but in the meantime we’ll continue to take our responsibilities, both as an employer and as a supplier of food, extremely seriously,’ said Peeling.