As an essential supplier, Ashland’s global manufacturing sites have continued to operate safely throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Our supply chain continues to receive, process and ship customers’ orders thereby making and supplying the critical specialty products that our customers and the world needs.

Ashland’s specialty materials are used in pharmaceuticals, personal care items, household products and nutritional food and beverage products. Like the First Responders across the globe, our employees, laboratories, and manufacturing plants play a vital role in maintaining health and other activities necessary during a global pandemic response. Despite all the challenges COVID-19 presents, Ashland stands strong #AshlandMfgStrong.

Ashland’s Global Incident Management Team (IMT) continues to track developments, assess situations and take proactive actions for our employees, customers, and communities. The IMT is designed to anticipate the next challenges the COVID-19 outbreak could present, and continuously update our actions accordingly. We remain steadfast to operating safely and using the Incident Management System (IMS) to set and manage our incident action plan. We continue to reinforce social distancing, enhanced cleaning practices, good personal hygiene and have built in communication channels with routine validation mechanisms of our execution of the plans. Strong incident management throughout COVID-19 has made us successful through this pandemic and it will continue to help us safely assess and manage all risks.

Our continued success is dependent upon every one of us following the COVID-19 safety and health controls that have been put in place to protect us. This includes a safe and phased approach to bringing our employees back into our offices. We have already successfully returned our global research and development organization to the laboratories through a comprehensive process of training, work environment redesign, and implementation of a ‘layers of protection’ concept. As we plan for opening our offices around the world, we will ensure our teams are trained and ready to follow all local regulations for essential workers as well as Ashland requirements that oftentimes exceed local regulations.  Like our research and development return to the workplace plan, we will utilize the most current health data analyses to individually adjust our return timing and actions for each location using our incident management teams regionally and globally.  We continue to use our remote work information technologies to ensure delivery of our products, support, and service to our customers and operations.  

Ashland frequently communicates to global employees in their native languages how to help prevent the spread of coronavirus to keep themselves and their families safe.  As we prepare for our employees returning to offices, we have increased the development of informational posters for the workplace continuing our strong commitment to health and safety, and to zero incidents and helping our leaders all over the world have the tools and information to talk about health and wellbeing with their teams.

Our global logistics and purchasing teams have provided all our employees with appropriate respirator masks, cleaning supplies, hand sanitizers and thermometers globally to keep out teams healthy while allowing our operations to continue. We review and update frequently the procedures for site access by visitors, contractors and employees. This includes procedures to screen for the health of employees, contractors, and visitors at all Ashland sites and a robust contact tracing team should the need arise.

We have heightened cyber security monitoring and communications to employees about staying vigilant due to opportunistic cyber-criminals and how to defend against attacks.

Ashland is committed to the safety, health, and security of our employees, their families, and the communities where we work and live. We applaud our solvers around the world continuing to work to keep our manufacturing sites open and to continuing to supply our customers with the vital products they need to keep society healthy and safe.

We encourage everyone to diligently practice the recommended COVID-19 safety measures to stay safe.

Dave Druckenbroad
VP, EHS and Sustainability