Taking good care in the pandemic: Progroup carries out rapid COVID-19 tests at its Plößberg site

Philipp Kosloh, Member of the Executive Board and Chief Operations Officer of Progroup, welcomed the Minister. He gave him an insight into how the employees at Progroup have adjusted to the challenges posed by the pandemic through forward planning and flexibility. The meeting was also attended by representatives from the district of Tirschenreuth and the company Liebensteiner, observing the rules on social distancing and hygiene. Liebensteiner's production facility is closely linked to Progroup’s, allowing both companies to closely coordinate their measures to combat coronavirus.

“For Progroup, taking good care of our employees, customers and partners is the top priority. This is why we have gratefully accepted the offer from the district of Tirschenreuth and are now doing our own rapid COVID-19 testing. This allows us to increase the level of health protection on site to an even higher level,” said Kosloh.

The management team of Progroup's corrugated sheetboard plant in Plößberg has been instructed by BAD, one of Europe's largest providers of occupational health and safety services, on how to carry out rapid COVID-19 tests and is now able to perform these tests independently. The district of Tirschenreuth is providing the rapid tests which are required free of charge.

If the test results are negative, the instructed persons are authorized to issue official certificates which can also be presented as proof to allow people to cross national borders.

“For our colleagues who commute to work from the Czech Republic, this is a great relief,” said Kosloh, who also expressed his gratitude for the exemplary cooperation with the local authority. “This is a shining example of how business and local government can work together to successfully overcome the challenges of the pandemic.”

The deployment of these rapid tests adds to Progroup’s existing safety and hygiene concept and thus complements the company's strategy to combat coronavirus. As soon as the pandemic first emerged in the spring of last year, Progroup established a task force that developed a phased plan for coronavirus. Plößberg is currently at the highest alert level. Among other things, this means measuring people’s temperature before they enter the site, mandatory mask wearing, strict separation of shifts and regular disinfection of work equipment, surfaces and washrooms several times a day.

This concept has also enabled Progroup, a company that operates in the systemically important paper and packaging industry, to maintain production in all its plants. It has thus been possible to make a vital contribution to help to address the challenges that coronavirus poses to society by keeping supply chains stocked with essential goods such as medicines, food and medical equipment.