KURARAY AMERICA, INC. CONTINUES TO OPERATE AS AN ESSENTIAL INFRASTRUCTURE BUSINESS
March 23, 2020
The world is facing an issue of enormous scale and human impact related to COVID-19. At Kuraray, safety is the cornerstone of everything we do. As the situation rapidly evolves, we’re working to protect the health of our employees, while continuing to meet our customer commitments. To ensure everyone’s safety and the continuity of operations, Kuraray has taken the following countermeasures in response to minimizing the spread of COVID-19:
- For any “stay at home” orders, Kuraray’s position is that we are exempt as a “critical infrastructure sector” as defined by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (which identifies 16 such sectors, including chemical).
- On March 16, we instituted a work-from-home policy for all employees able to perform their job functions remotely. Only employees essential to production or lab facilities are on site. Those employees who must use our facilities are working in shifts to avoid the potential for cross-contamination.
- We’re issuing new guidelines and procedures for any employees, visitors, and contractors entering KAI facilities. Kuraray implemented temperature screening measures at production sites on Friday, March 20, 2020.
- If we receive notification of a positive COVID-19 test at a site, we will conduct a full investigation and disinfect all areas the person came into contact with per the CDC’s cleaning protocol. Committed to full transparency, we will provide numbers and locations of any positive tests to the appropriate health department authorities. We will notify any customers, vendors, or suppliers who may have come into contact with an infected person on our site.
- Our team is working daily with suppliers and supply chain partners to minimize delivery impacts to customers. We value your support for safe operations as part of the essential critical infrastructure of the United States of America and ask you to share the steps you are taking to ensure safe continued operations.
We will continue to provide updates and adjust our countermeasures as we learn more. Together, we will weather this global pandemic.
Thank you for your continued partnership.
Best regards,
Hitoshi Toyoura
President and CEO
Kuraray America, Inc.
About Kuraray
Founded in 1926, Kuraray Co., Ltd. is a world leader in performance-based polymer and specialty materials technologies, including resins, chemicals, fibers and textiles. The company operates many subsidiaries around the world, including Kuraray America, Inc., headquartered in Houston, Texas. For more information, visit www.kuraray.us.com.
To contact Kuraray regarding COVID-19 status of facilities and operations,
please call (512) 931-1015 or email PIO@Kuraray.com
Previous Statements
March 18, 2020 – Kuraray America Inc. Continues to Operate Without Disruption
March 9, 2020 – Kuraray America Inc. Operating Without Disruption
February 5, 2020 – Kuraray America Inc. Operating Without Disruption