Photo By Mark Cleghorn | John Caldwell, left, and Earl Honea disinfect a machine shop break room at Anniston...... read more read more
ANNISTON ARMY DEPOT, Ala. -- Globally, the Army is taking precautionary measures to protect the health of the force and maintain operational readiness. Installations, including Anniston Army Depot, evaluate day-to-day operations to ensure the safety of all of all personnel.
Everyone is encouraged to follow the guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to prevent the spread of infection.
“At the direction of the Department of Defense, for operational security purposes, ANAD cannot release or confirm numbers of positive cases,” said Col. Marvin Walker, ANAD’s commander. “While I can’t expound on numbers or cases, I can tell you the health and safety of our workforce remains a priority while combating the spread of COVID-19. The depot is a critical infrastructure, with a critical mission in support of our nation’s security and defense. We have taken steps to ensure the safety of our workforce.”
Walker stated that in the event of a positive case, the installation will follow Department of Defense, Department of the Army, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Alabama Department of Public Health and Office of Personnel Management guidance to address it.
This includes deep cleaning of all potentially impacted areas.
Additionally, employees have been asked to monitor the distance they work from each other and supervisors have been empowered to make necessary changes in work areas to ensure employee safety.
One of those changes is to temporarily assign employees to night shift.
As of April 9, approximately 130 Directorate of Production employees were temporarily transferred to night shift.
“I’ve been proud of the flexibility of our employees. The men and women who comprise the backbone of the depot’s workforce have willingly changed shifts and found innovative ways to ensure they and their coworkers remain virus free,” said Steve Pennington, the director of Production. “They continue to support our war fighters while also fighting an unseen enemy here at home.”
Some day shift employees have also had their work schedules temporarily altered, enabling a staggering of break times.
“The Vehicle Gun Division has changed the start time for four cost centers to 6:30 a.m. This changes their break and lunch times,” said Lavon Stephens, chief of the Vehicle Gun Division. “We are staggering these times to minimize how many people come in and through the break rooms and welders’ dressing rooms. While we practice keeping social distances, we are doing our best in the heaviest traffic areas to minimize contact with other work centers for everyone’s protection.”
Employees in one of the depot’s machining facilities are taking extra steps to protect themselves and their coworkers.
Two employees voluntarily clean the break room after each break time, using cleaning products, including a bleach solution, to scrub all surface areas regularly touched.
“We were willing to step up,” said Earl Honea. “If we have just one safe place, I’d like for it to be the break room.”
John Caldwell, who assists Honea with cleaning, said surfaces from the tables to the microwaves, snack machines and handles of refrigerators are all disinfected at least three times a day.
The machinists have also created fixtures, enabling doors to be opened without using hands.
“Brad Cooper, one of our machinist leaders, brought the bathroom doors to my attention and proposed a way to open the doors without using hands,” said Joe Cash, machinist supervisor.
Cash said the two variants of door fixtures made by the machinists, which use the forearm or elbow to open doors, are being reviewed by the Safety Office in preparation for wider distribution.
All fixtures were made utilizing scrap metal.
| Date Taken: | 04.16.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 04.16.2020 16:37 |
| Story ID: | 367423 |
| Location: | AL, US |
| Web Views: | 27 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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