Health and Safety Is the Top Priority as Operations Resume How automaker Opel is resuming production

5 a.m. at Gate 48 at Opel in Rüsselsheim: After a three-month COVID-19 shutdown, employees are lining up for the early shift—while maintaining social distance. Behind the gate, they receive masks—four per employee per day—and a bottle of hand sanitizer. Those who agree also have their temperature checked with an infrared thermometer.

The employees in line are calm. Everything is fine. Safety comes first.

They were at home for three months, on zero short-time work. They lost hardly any money in the process: The works council secured a commitment from Opel to supplement their short-time work pay —to 94 percent of their normal wages.

Health protection is the top priority

Protecting employees’ health is the works council’s top priority as production resumes. To this end, the works council negotiated a company agreement with the employer—and once again identified the risks and developed specific measures for each individual department and task through risk assessments.

In addition to protection against COVID-19, the works council has ensured that the strain on employees does not become too great.

“We’ve always focused on striking the right balance: as much protection as necessary, as little additional strain as possible,” explains Works Council member Antonio Petruzzi-Manganiello. “Working for hours on end while wearing a mask, for example, is extremely exhausting. That’s why we’ve secured additional breaks for employees.”

In Petruzzi’s area, in Hall K170/171, where the “Insignia” is assembled, there is a five-minute extra break every hour. Employees are allowed to step off the line at any time to change their masks and sanitize their hands. Older employees can take additional breaks. To make this possible, there are more staff members on duty than are actually needed for the shift.

Appropriate Measures for Every Task

Over 30 kilometers of construction tape is affixed to the floors in the halls to mark the safety distances. Hundreds of laminated signs provide guidance on safe behavior. Tables and tools are disinfected hourly. There are special trash cans for disposing of used masks.

In addition, there are special measures for specific tasks. When assembling doors in Halls 170/171, for example, it is impossible for employees to maintain a distance of 1.50 meters at all times. Therefore, in addition to masks, they wear face shields.

The works council developed these specific measures with the support of the on-site IG Metall shop stewards. “Our shop stewards are best positioned to assess the situation,” explains Umut Sönmez, works council member and head of the IG Metall shop stewards at Opel in Rüsselsheim. “They are closest to the workplaces and their colleagues. That’s why it’s important to us that the shop stewards are always involved.”

Inside Hall 170/171, the Insignias have been waiting on the assembly lines for three months. First, each group receives a safety briefing from the foreman. At 6:56 a.m., the moment arrives: The assembly lines start up. And the first finished Insignia rolls off the line after a three-month pause due to the coronavirus.