11th March 2020
With the ongoing concern and increasing spread of the COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic, there are a significant number of our customers and colleagues contacting us to understand the approach the FSSI Group are taking in response now the virus has now spread to more than 30 countries and continues to expand its reach.
We continue to follow WHO and UK Government guidance and are actively implementing the measures needed to protect the health of our employees and clients, and the safety of the foods they produce.
Our Employees and Sub-Contractors:
The health and safety of our employees, sub-contractors and customers is paramount and we have been providing all field team and administrative staff with regular updates and guidance on how to prevent the spread of the virus where possible
To be cleared for work all FSSI Group employees and sub-contractors must attest to their manager that in the last 14 days they have not:
Travelled to, from or through any of the countries listed below. Knowingly been in direct face-to-face contact with any person who has travelled to, from or through any of the countries listed above. Knowingly been exposed to any person with a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19. Our employees have been instructed to comply with client requests for COVID-19 health status information insofar as they do not violate their privacy rights.
Current Travel Restrictions:
The FSSI Group have had virtually no presence in recent months in those countries deemed as high risks by UK Government. We continue to monitor auditor movements and we’ve halted all business-related travel and auditing services in the following countries:
Our employees will not travel to, from or through these countries until after these restrictions are lifted and they are deemed safe. We continue to monitor official sources and will expand these restrictions to include additional ‘high risk’ countries as the situation unfolds.
FSSI Group will ensure that any auditor who may have been exposed to the risk is removed from an audit programme, self-isolates and will not return to work until either is tested negative or able to prove infection free for a two week period.
Strategic Customer Support:
We are working with a number of our key partners to monitor and mitigate the risks of their food safety programmes. These measures have included the provision of remote monitoring and compliance solutions, resourcing in-country auditors, extensions to the duration of approval periods or moving to announced visits.
At this time administrative support services and digital services based in the UK remain unchanged.
We will provide further updates as the situation changes.
If you have any questions regarding this update, please follow the link below: