A Message from Wangarang Industries Regarding the COVID-19 Virus.

The information within this communication has been prepared based upon the available advice as at the date of issue and may be subject to change as more or differing information becomes available. 

In response to the COVID-19 Pandemic Wangarang are putting measures in place to reduce the risk to the health and safety of our employees, the people we support, their families and carers and our valued customers in an attempt to mitigate contracting the infection and spreading it.

As we operate in a high-risk sector, we want to assure everyone we have dealings with that we are doing everything that has been outlined by the World Health Organisation.

Some of the measure we are putting in place include, but are not limited to:

• Ensuring anyone coming onto our site is practicing required hygiene routines, including washing hands upon arrival at our site, wearing disposable gloves when performing cleaning jobs. This process will be supervised where necessary to ensure best practices in being exercised.
• Not coming to the site when sick or having flu like symptoms.
• Workers and people we support who present with flu-like symptoms such as a sore throat, runny nose and/or cough will be sent home immediately and will be kept in an isolated sick bay until their carer or family arrives to collect them. People who are able to transport themselves home, will do so. Individual Social Support participants presenting with flu-like symptoms as described above will not be permitted to engage in their scheduled supports.
• All employees and people we support will now arrive onsite and depart through the side gate, not reception or any other door and will be guided to thoroughly wash hands before entering or leaving the site.
• Scheduled cleaning practices each morning, afternoon and after each meal break have been implemented to disinfect all high-contact surfaces such as door handles, tabletops, iPad screens, chair arms and shared resources.
• Introducing Social Distancing to ensure everyone is keeping a safe distance between each other to minimise the spread of infection via airborne particles and we have prohibited all forms of touching.
• Multiple hand washing and sanitising stations have been placed around the facility and we will continue to maintain sanitising solutions in each support and service vehicle that people are accessing throughout the day. Extra time has been allocated before each meal break to allow adequate hand washing and we have two separate break times to reduce the number of people in the dinning areas
• We have implemented regular information sessions and training regarding safe hand washing procedures and effective preventative techniques to limit the spread of any virus through sneezing and coughing. Any person that does not follow or are not able to follow these procedures will be asked to wear a mask or remain at home.
• Any Life Skills & Recreational activities will be modified until further notice to avoid outings in high-traffic public facilities and services that will place participants at risk, such as shopping centres, the library, the cinema, the tenpin bowling alley. To continue offering a program that meets the needs and goals of participants, alternative in-house activities have been scheduled at no extra cost to participants.
• The Individual Social Support Program recognises the need to continue services therefore will not at this time have any imposed limitations, however participants will be encouraged to avoid public facilities and services that are not essential.

In the case that one of our employees or a person we support is diagnosed positive with COVID19, Wangarang will close its doors and all employee and people we support will have to self-isolate for 14 days.

This means that all our services will be postponed until we return to work. Senior management will be contactable during this time for any information and updates you may require.

Senior Management have remote access to our computer system, therefore, in the event of having to close down, payroll and accounts will still be able to function as usual so there is no need for concern in this regard.

We are hoping the above measure will limit the possibility of a person contracting this virus and prevent any closure of our organisation to enable us to continue to provide the valuable services we have been providing for the last 57 years to the Orange community.

The health and safety of our employees, the people we support, our customers and the community generally remain our top priority during this troubling time.

Thank you for your ongoing support and we know you fully understand the reasons why these actions are being implemented.

Yours faithfully

Kevin McGuire

Chief Executive Officer                            18 March 2020