Lear Corp. released a second edition of its Safe Work Playbook on Monday with new information on employee communication and training as suppliers wrestle with implementing health and safety protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The seating and electronics supplier stepped ahead of the industry when it released the first edition of the Safe Work Playbook on April 6. Days later, the Original Equipment Suppliers Association and the Alliance for Automotive Innovation released their own set of guidelines.
The new edition of the Safe Work Playbook includes information from the first edition along with updated guidelines for returning to plants.
The original document details appropriate social-distancing measures in manufacturing plants. It also includes information on educating employees on new work procedures and protocols for taking proactive health measures in plants, such as worker temperature checking.
The second edition adds tools for localized communication for employees, such as prewritten letters and emails outlining safety protocols and operational changes; a suggested timeline and process map for sharing information with employees; a framework for assessing the implementation of the guidelines; and suggestions for measuring employee sentiment.
The company said Monday that the first playbook was downloaded more than 18,000 times across multiple industries.
“You know, even though we feel that we can create the safest environment, no one is absolutely 100 percent protected if we don’t follow the protocols and adjust,” CEO Ray Scott said in an episode of the Daily Drive podcast with Automotive News Publisher Jason Stein last week.
“We have to create different situations and protocols within those facilities. And in some cases, that may require us thinking about our plant layout. … That may require an enormous amount of protective equipment and different policies and practices within those plants,” he said.