Kralupy nad Vltavou, 27 March 2020 – In response to the unfavorable developments associated with the spread of the SARS-Cov-2 coronavirus, the MERO ČR, a.s. crisis task force decided to launch a crisis plan – isolation of the control room.
As of Friday, 27 March, MERO ČR, a.s. operators and dispatchers are completely isolated from other employees and from their families for a week. For seven days, they will stay in improvised bedrooms set up in the control room building at the central oil tank farm in Nelahozeves and rotate in 12-hour shifts. After a week, a thorough disinfection of the premises will take place and another team will start the next shift. The body temperature of employees is measured twice a day during their shift, and the second team, which is at home, is obliged to follow the rules arising from government regulations. The aim of the measures is to protect the employees of the control room, from which the operation of the Družba and IKL oil pipelines and the oil tank farm is controlled, as much as possible.
“The oil pipelines and control room are among the elements of the State’s critical infrastructure, and ensuring the transportation of oil is one of the key missions of our company. We do not want the management of oil pipelines to be paralyzed by a possible infection, which is why we have taken these measures. I appreciate the fact that the dispatchers and operators have shown an affiliation with the interests of our company and have sacrificed their free time in their private life and the comfort of their homes”, said Jaroslav Kocián, Chairman of the Board of MERO ČR, a.s.
