“The health and safety of our staff is our top priority. At PORR we expanded our logistics and infrastructure capabilities for antigen testing already in November 2020, long before there was external aid for in-company testing, and we carried out up to 6,000 tests a week. Since February 2021, we have received strong technology support from the ‘Crisis Management and Preventive Healthcare’ unit of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber. To date PORR has conducted more than 140,000 antigen tests and 60,000 self-tests”, said PORR CEO Karl-Heinz Strauss.
A total of 8,200 people have been vaccinated at PORR. Commuters, subcontractors and project partners mean that there are high levels of traffic at the construction sites. Vaccination thereby provides an enormous sense of security. What’s more, the vaccines administered were from BioNTech-Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, which have been proven to be highly effective against the new Delta strain. Widespread weekly COVID-19 testing is ongoing for all staff. PORR has a similar vaccination and testing program in place on its other markets as well.
“The switch from testing to administering vaccines was managed with exceptional speed. By taking part in the official federal vaccination strategy, we managed to reach all of our staff at every branch office under a uniform approach in coordination with the federal health ministry’s COVID-19 crisis unit”, added Strauss.
Comprehensive set of measures against COVID-19
PORR works exclusively with highly qualified, carefully selected medical personnel including doctors, paramedics and nurses. They work seven days a week for PORR employees, project partners and subcontractors. They take care of contact tracing, crisis consulting, de-escalation and organising vaccination and testing facilities within the company. The situation is constantly reassessed to ensure the highest possible health and safety standards are upheld. In addition, all of the measures are regularly updated and go far beyond the legally mandated standards.
“Here I would like to express my thanks for the successful, shoulder-to-shoulder cooperation between PORR and the federal government, especially the ministries for health and defence. Reliable supply and distribution of the vaccines, coupled with outstanding logistics, have enabled us to achieve our ambitious vaccination rate in the Group within a very short time period. This in turn has allowed us to continue our construction activities without interruption”, concluded Strauss.