MYDIS is working with Banham Poultry to ensure its Norfolk-based premises are Covid-19-secure after a coronavirus outbreak prompted the business to close its chicken factories at the end of August.
Banham accounts for 7% of the UK’s chicken processing and remained operational during lockdown, preserving the nation’s food supply during a critical time.
When one worker tested positive for coronavirus on August 21, hundreds of staff were subsequently tested and more than 130 employees also tested positive.
Also Read: Banham Poultry reopens after Covid-19 outbreak forced closureHundreds of staff were asked to self-isolate and, by the end of the month, Banham Poultry voluntarily closed the area of the factory where these employees worked.
5 MYDIS Portals installed
Banham has worked with MYDIS to install a suite of state-of-the-art products that help combat coronaviruses and give the business the confidence to reopen its factories in full.
Banham has installed five MYDIS Portals at the entrances to its factories and offices.
These walk-in booths are equipped with artificial intelligence and facial recognition technology to identify employees and check their body temperatures.
Users walk through the booth and their outer layers are covered in a fine mist of vaporised disinfectant before they enter the building.
Banham also uses MYDIS’s fogging machines, portable hand-held machines that spray a fine mist of disinfectant.
All staff facilities are ‘fogged’ daily, with high-use areas, such as cafeteria and bathrooms, sprayed three to four times per day.
‘Covid-19 security of our site is not negotiable to us’
Blaine van Rensburg, managing director of Banham Poultry, said:
Health and safety has always been of paramount importance to us at Banham, but the pandemic has prompted us to evolve our protections.
“The Covid-19 security of our site is not negotiable to us, so we’ve worked with MYDIS to implement a range of best in-class measures. Many of these measures, including MYDIS’s walk-in sanitising booths, will be permanent fixtures.
“Only four of the staff who tested positive had coronavirus symptoms, and these developed after their positive tests, so we’re determined to be on the front foot moving forward by ensuring we’re detecting high temperatures at the door of all our facilities and regularly sanitising and disinfecting all areas as frequently as possible.
“Health inspectors have said our response is innovative, so we’re really proud of our collaboration with MYDIS to implement these solutions to help stop the spread of the virus in a workplace setting.”
‘Banham Poultry sets the tone’
Terri-Ann Boyle, director at MYDIS, says:
“With more than 20 years of experience in the disinfection industry, we are putting our expertise to good use to ensure Banham Poultry is a safe and Covid-19 secure site for all staff and customers.
“Banham Poultry sets the tone for what a Covid-19 secure site should look like as we continue to battle the pandemic.
“We’re constantly innovating to ensure we’re providing the most advanced, convenient yet effective solutions to disinfect and sanitise sites, helping to combat coronaviruses.
In addition to MYDIS’s solutions, Banham’s protective clothing is now single use and it has implemented a one-way foot-traffic system throughout its three-storey building.
“Banham has enhanced social distancing measures in amenities and production lines with increased signage and screens.
“It has also installed door handles which automatically dispense hand sanitiser when touched. Staff continue to wear face coverings, a pre-existing policy,” she concluded.
