At Linde we are driven to ensure no harm comes from our actions to people, the environment or the communities in which we operate.
Hence, we take the coronavirus / COVID-19 pandemic very seriously, both in our responsibility to our own people and in the need to maintain continuity of supply for customers.
We have taken the following precautions as well as stated expected behaviors of our employees in order to prevent/limit this virus to spread further, and to make sure we can continue with the normal operations and maintain supply.
The information we have used is based upon information from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and we are continuously following the recommendations from the local health authorities’.
1. Travel restrictions
2. Special guidance communicated to all employees on how to help reduce risk of infection
3. Mitigation plans in our operations
Travel restrictions:
- apply to areas determined by governmental authorities to be restricted areas
- all employees have been instructed to minimize travel and use virtual meetings, unless business-critical travel
Special instructions regarding how to reduce risk of infection:
- correct personal hygiene routines
- how to behave in public areas, e.g. our offices, etc.
- avoidance of geographic risk areas and individuals with defined risk
- instructions on how to behave if an employee has been in a restricted area
- instruction on how suppliers and contractors behave during supply and in Linde sites
Mitigation plans are in place to ensure continuous supply to our customers.
Q&A External – reactive
What products to customer may/will be affected and when (supply shortages)?
We do not foresee any upcoming supply shortages at present but follow the developments closely. We have a mitigation plan in place to be able to secure deliveries.
If any products to customer are affected, do you have any alternative supply chains of the same or equivalent material?
We do not foresee any upcoming supply shortages at present but follow the developments closely. We have a mitigation plan in place to be able to secure deliveries.
If any products to customer are affected, what actions are implemented to minimize the risk of supply disturbances?
- Execute scheduling from other locations and/or reallocate to other sites
- Agent stock level will be used as a backup supply
- For products filled only at one site we would reallocate resources to other sites
- Employees have as far as possible been equipped to work from home
How do we risk minimize that our personnel (truck drivers, sales reps etc.) having customer contact are potential risk to customers?
We follow the guidance from local authorities and have incurred travel restrictions, to minimize the risk of infection of employees and contractors. Special guidance has been shared on how to handle gas cylinders to minimize infection.
Do you foresee any delayed deliveries?
No. We expect our suppliers and contractors to perform their service according to contractual obligations and inform as proactively if business continuity is at risk.
Guidance at deliveries to/from Linde:
- All guidance from the local health authorities are to be followed
- All necessary precautions prior to entering a Linde facility must be taken
- During loading and offloading, the interaction with Linde employees should be minimized, and physical contact avoided