Ms. Jarinya Jirojkul, Chief Executive Officer of STGT, a global producer of latex and nitrile gloves, reports that since the outbreak of Covid-19 infections early last year, STGT has put considerable effort into providing safety measures to screen and protect all plant and office employees to assure customers that its premises have strict hygienic measures and are able to continue production uninterrupted.
Currently, STGT employs more than 9,000 persons, about 3,000 or 40% of whom are foreign. As a matter of policy and pride, the company provides both foreign and Thai workers a safe working environment and welfare without discrimination.
Since the Covid-19 outbreak, strict screening and preventive measures have been implemented, including the following: temperature screening of all employees before entering work areas as well as dormitories; random temperature checks of personnel during the day; requiring hygienic face masks while on duty; implementing social distancing; providing cleansing alcohol for all personnel; requesting employees cease interprovincial trips to at-risk zones and to inform superiors if a trip becomes necessary.
In addition, regular disinfection of various spaces, such as dining halls and employee dormitories, has been increased from monthly to weekly. Recently, the company has also included surrounding communities in its disinfection schedule.
For foreign workers, the company ensures that they have proper work permits and travel documents. They are provided with proper housing with each unit accommodating no more than 3 persons. Access to living quarters are strictly regulated and movement monitored to prevent unauthorized access.
STGT is currently in the process of opening another four plants in Surat Thani Province and Sadao District of Songkhla Province with an opening scheduled for each consecutive quarter this year. As a consequence, the company will need 1,500 new employees to cope with the increasing production capacity to 36,000 million gloves per year, an increase from last year’s 33,000 million pieces.
To ensure no labor shortages, the company has planned to recruit new employees among Thai residents in areas around the company’s plants as a matter of policy to help Thai workers who are facing unemployment problems during this particularly difficult time.