FCA Restarting North American Production

As Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) prepares to resume its North American manufacturing operations, the company has developed and is implementing a comprehensive program of enhanced safety measures to protect employees, their families and the surrounding communities from the spread and transmission of COVID-19 when the plants reopen.

“Above everything else, our top priority has always been to do what is right for our employees,” Mike Manley, FCA CEO, said. “We have worked closely with the unions to establish protocols that will ensure our employees feel safe at work and that every step possible has been taken to protect them.

“We have drawn on our collective global expertise and best practices to rethink our production processes to put in place comprehensive protocols to keep our workforce safe,” Manley said. “There is no question that coming to work will look and feel different. I have now visited several of our Detroit-area facilities, met with our teams and walked the floor. I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank all of our colleagues who have done an incredible job putting in place safety protocols to protect our people. Thank you all.”

Since closing its plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico on March 18, FCA has been working to put in place best practices that have enabled the restart of operations at its facilities in China and Italy. Aligned with World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recommendations, these robust protocols, along with the actions employees will be required to take to safeguard themselves and others, were communicated as part of a Return to Work package mailed to nearly 47,000 U.S. and Canadian represented employees. Mexico will share the same information through in-person training.

Those protocols include:

• More than 57 million square feet of production floor cleaned and disinfected
• Thorough daily cleaning schedules to be instituted to maintain enhanced levels of cleanliness and disinfection
• Temperature checks and daily health self-screening required for all employees and visitors
• Nearly 17,000 workstations analyzed for social distancing with more than 4,700 requiring redesign or modification
• Staggered start times, increased break and lunch times implemented to increase social distancing
• Installing thermal imaging cameras as added safety check
• Masks and safety glasses to be required personal protection equipment