Ford updates COVID-19 mask requirement for US office, factory workers

Ford Motor Co. has revised pandemic-related mask requirements for its U.S. office and factory workers, and the company notified employees Monday, the Free Press has learned.

"The safety of our workforce is our top priority," said Kelli Felker, Ford global manufacturing and labor communications manager.

"We have updated our COVID safety protocols to expand mask options for our workforce, allowing them to add their own cloth mask on top of the required Ford-provided mask for an additional layer, or wear their own N95 or KN95 respirator instead of the Ford mask," she said.

No other changes have been made to company protocol, Felker said.

Ford, like all manufacturers globally, is working to manage the impact that sick days related to the respiratory disease are having on production.

The factory workforce in auto, as well as other industries, has been hit hard.

In Michigan, coronavirus has set records recently for hospitalizations as the extremely contagious omicron variant created the state's worst yet surge. On Monday, Michigan reported 39,372 new COVID-19 cases and 36 deaths over three days with a state positivity rate of nearly 28%.

UAW members have been working overtime to cover for co-workers on COVID-19 quarantine in different parts of the country, Felker confirmed.

Super Duty rolling off the line

Kentucky has been hit especially hard by the omicron variant, which is proving less deadly but still filling hospitals.

"Our plants are a reflection of the communities in which they are located," Felker said.

Kentucky Truck builds the Super Duty, Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator while Louisville Assembly makes the Ford Escape and Lincoln Corsair. And workers have been working overtime between the two plants there.

The statewide rate of Kentucky residents testing positive hit 33% on Monday, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal. Last week’s number of new coronavirus cases set another record at 83,159. Over the weekend, the state reported 25,445 new cases, and on Monday, another 3,912, the newspaper said.

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The 12-year-old son of Gov. Andy Beshear now has COVID-19, Beshear announced Monday, noting that he and his son are fully vaccinated and boosted.

Jon Jaggers, building chairman of the Kentucky Truck Plant, wrote a memo dated Jan. 20 and obtained by the Free Press, saying the plant has had 2,273 COVID cases.

Felker, when asked about the memo, said that total reflects the total infection rate since the start of the pandemic. Ford employs approximately 8,500 hourly workers at the plant.

Ventilation system updates

"When the plant gets a positive result, there will be a safety stand down for those working in the same area as the infected individual on that shift and the following shifts for the next 24 hours," the memo said. "The UAW Health and Safety team along with a Labor Relations representative will conduct contact tracing calls with the positive person to determine close contacts. This includes what operation he or she does, what entrance and exit was used, what restrooms and break areas were used and what route the infected individual took to get to their operation. The company is working to get the ventilation system up to date as well as other safety protection."

Todd Dunn, president of UAW Local 862 in Louisville, said workers are trying to keep their families as safe as possible while keeping plants running despite schedule disruption, Dunn said.

"It’s vital to make sure that the health and welfare of our members is first and foremost," he said Monday. "We’re trying to build product and meet the demand. Membership steps up every time, unequivocally."

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Dunn added, "It's important to still hold the company accountable for those cleaning protocols. ... When the virus is doubling down on you, there’s no cause to cut back on cleaning protocols."

There are no changes to the cleaning protocols, Felker said Tuesday.

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Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: phoward@freepress.com or 313-618-1034. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid. Read more on Ford and sign up for our autos newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ford updates mask requirements for US office, factory workers