Planning & Praying for a Hope-Filled Future
In the News
In the wake of the COVID-19 virus, our highest priority is to help ensure the health and safety of our employees, customers, and suppliers. In doing so, Marine Chemist Service is following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as Virginia and local authorities. Further, doing so accords with our tried and true vision statement; albeit we never envisioned its application would extend to the current pandemic:
Protecting People, and their Environment
In addition to living up to our motto, Marine Chemist Service is keenly aware of its responsibilities as an Essential business; and even more so during this trying time. According to government sources, there are certain expectations for companies who provide mission-critical activities to national security. Both the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) state companies such as ours “have a special responsibility to maintain your normal work schedule.” Thus, we have taken stringent measures to keep our doors open.
One area where your employees might literally come through our doors involves training. Some government agencies such as DPOR have put a stay on training expirations until 30 days after Virginia lifts its state of emergency. Others such as EPA, OSHA, and NAVSEA have not extended training expiration dates. If training expires, then ships, for example, cannot be tested and inspected for entry into confined spaces and/or hot work to make weld repairs. If vessels remain in a state of disrepair, then this becomes a detriment to national defense. Hence, it is essential MCS still provides some of its training classes.
For classes in which the following is allowed, we are aggressively pursuing measures to begin offering a third alternative to our current lineup of instructor-led and online training options. In the next couple of weeks, we will be launching a combination class in which a live instructor will present the course material, but remotely instead of in person. For classes whereby remote training is not feasible, MCS has already put into place the following safety-related measures:
- Reducing class size by 50% or greater in order to promote social distancing
- Contacting your POCs the day before class for attendance and wellness confirmation
- Disinfecting tables, etc. prior to each day’s class
- Availability of nitrile gloves and N95 masks for those desiring to wear during class
- Hand sanitizer in all common areas and anti-bacterial soap in restrooms
- Interviewing all who enter our facility for signs of illness
- Screening all who enter for elevated body temperature by infrared (contactless) meters
Because this is a dynamic and changing environment, MCS is regularly meeting to consider new government guidelines and refine already implemented policies and procedures. We hope these measures are temporary but, again, our highest priority is our employees and yours. We are definitely planning for many tomorrows, and we will get through this challenging time.