A message from Saint-Gobain North America CEO: COVID-19

2020-03-19

Mar. 19, 2020 - Each passing day brings an overwhelming amount of information about new coronavirus (COVID-19) cases; federal, state and local governments enacting sweeping measures; and businesses grappling with how best to keep their employees safe and protected. This is a very challenging time for our immediate and extended members of the Saint-Gobain North America family, as well as our partners and suppliers. However, I know the one common thread for all of us is how to keep our colleagues, partners, suppliers and communities safe and ensure that we do our part to “flatten the curve” in the communities in which we operate. 

While this is no doubt daunting, we have control in how we respond, how we communicate with one another, and how we support each other. We are a family and we are in this together. I know you have questions about what comes next, what we are doing to prepare over the coming days and weeks, and how this will shape the trajectory of our business for months to come.

To this end, it’s important to communicate to all of you (colleagues, customers and suppliers) on the many precautions and protocols we’ve planned for, and implemented, to ensure the safety and well-being of our team members while doing our best to ensure continuity of supply for the construction industry.

1. Wherever possible, we’ve moved employees to work-from-home. We’ve asked these employees to continue to support their customers (internal and external) remotely and to practice social distancing when they need to venture out.

2. We’ve instituted domestic and international travel bans for our employees and moved all client meetings to video conferences for the time being. 

3. Before these bans went into effect, we had mandatory self-isolation periods for those returning from high-risk areas.

4. In our plants, we have moved to ensure that operators are a safe distance from one another, altered shifts and breaks to create better isolation and in some cases moved to skeleton shifts. 

5. As the situation is literally changing by the hour, as an executive team we will continue to monitor new developments closely and will update our protocols as appropriate based on new information from the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as taking into consideration other “local” guidance as appropriate.

We’re overwhelmed by the amount of support and dedication we’ve seen, not only from the incredible people at Saint-Gobain, but across the globe as thousands commit to social distancing and other measures to keep the elderly and those with chronic medical conditions safe. This is not exclusive to one country, region or demographic. We must work together to stop the spread of this disease. Together, we can manage this disease and keep each other safe. Together, we will overcome this.