ISHKA Irish Spring Water has put additional precautionary measures in place to ensure that we are playing our part in helping to contain the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) while also ensuring a high quality production and delivery to all of our valued retail, wholesale and vending customers.

We respectably ask that any of our employees who have contracted COVID-19, or has been in contact with a person that has contracted COVID-19, to disclose this information immediately to ISHKA.

We respectively ask any employee returning to Ireland after travel abroad to self-quarantine if you are returning from a high risk country listed by the HSE. This is to prevent other people i.e. your work colleagues from getting coronavirus from you. Please reference the HSE website HSE.ie for details of the ‘at risk’ countries they have listed and details of how to self-quarantine. Self-quarantine means avoiding contact with other people as much as possible by ‘staying at home’. The difference between self-isolation and self-quarantine is explained on the HSE.ie website.

With the health and safety of our staff at the forefront of our thinking, together with business continuity planning, the immediate measures that we have put in place across the business are as follows:

Communication of information to staff

Regular safety alerts and government updates are circulated to all employees via e-mail and on site notice boards to raise awareness and encourage all employees to follow the latest advice.

Simple Precautions

As hand washing is one of the most effective controls, we have reinforced the importance of regular and thorough hand washing which has been cascaded through the business as displayed information sheets reminding staff and visitors of the correct handwashing protocol, as recommended by health professionals.

Travel

We have requested that all employees provide us with details of their travel itineraries for overseas travel. This information will then be used in assessing returning staff if they have been to an impacted area / region. We have cancelled all but the most essential domestic and international business trips. For managers who decide to travel abroad on holidays, we have requested that they travel with a work laptop to mitigate against possible delays in returning to work.

Visitors to our sites

We are encouraging all suppliers and clients to cancel any unnecessary visits to reduce the risk to ISHKA sites, and where possible use Skype/conference call telephone communications as an alternative means of conducting those meetings.

Only approved visitors will be allowed to access our site. The approval process requires any visitors or contractors to complete a form disclosing details of any contact with they have had with any COVID-19 risks which is then reviewed prior to access to any ISHKA site being granted.

Any unannounced visitors arriving will not gain access to the site.

All visitors/drivers must use the hand sanitisers in the areas that are signposted i.e. reception, sample and stock intake, production plant entrances, despatch and entrance to all offices and buildings.

Goods supplied from affected areas

We are working closely with suppliers to assess the risk posed by COVID-19 to their supply chains. As part of our pre-Brexit contingency planning, we have already built up buffer stocks of key items such as preforms which are being held at our sites in Ireland. We are confident that we have adequate stocks in place to maintain business continuity but will be continually reviewing our requirements considering the fast changing events.

We appreciate that the situation is developing rapidly and consequently we will keep our plans under constant review and will provide future updates in the News section of www.irishspringwater.com. We hope that this provides you with some reassurance that ISHKA Irish Spring Water is taking the necessary steps to ensure continuity of service.