In response to the unprecedented threat to public health, society and business activity caused by the COVID-19 virus pandemic, ACCIONA is taking all the necessary steps to protect the health and safety of its employees, while ensuring the continuity of its businesses and services, some of which are essential to life in the community. ACCIONA is also working together with public institutions and social actors to help combat this pandemic.

Our main responsibility, as a company and as citizens, is to help stop the spread of this disease. We are doing so by complying at all times with the recommendations of governments and health authorities in all the countries where we are present.

And because ACCIONA operates critical infrastructure in renewable energy, water and transport, and provides essential services such as hospital management, ambulance and cleaning services, we are making every effort to ensure the continuity and quality of services which are, today more than ever, absolutely essential for the safety and well-being of our citizens.

  1. HEALTH,SAFETY AND BUSINESS CONTINUITY
  2. COMMUNITY CARE
  3. ACCIONA'S TEAM

Health, safety and business continuity

ACCIONA has implemented all the measures recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and national health authorities to minimize the risk of contagion among our employees. The company has also anticipated in several countries some of these measures based on the experience gained particularly in Spain.
These measures include:

  • Protocol of action. It formalizes the different risk mitigation procedures to safeguard occupational health, and the security and safety of the company, and follows the recommendations of the WHO and national health authorities. The goal is to minimize health risks and identify how the health crisis might affect the company's activities. It also establishes the management processes required to comply with the measures decreed by authorities.
  • Guidelines for the event of possible contagion. These guidelines help employees prevent contagion and identify its symptoms and provides information on how to stay safe.
  • Working from home. ACCIONA is making resources, technology and communication tools available for employees who are able to work from home. In this way, we are complying with government requests to reduce travel and the possibility of contagion as much as possible. In addition to Spain, working remotely has been introduced, as a precautionary measure, in every country in which the company is present. More than 95% of our office staff are now working from home-a key weapon in the fight against the pandemic. We have increased the number of VPNs five-fold, reinforced our technical support services, and doubled the number of company laptops to enable this change in working patterns.
  • Safety on-site. Because ACCIONA operates critical infrastructure and essential services that are indispensable in a crisis, a significant number of our employees work onsite.

In Spain alone, ACCIONA operates 150 wastewater treatment plants, 20 drinking water treatment plants, and manages just over 80 water management services for 750,000 inhabitants.

The company also manages and provides services in several hospitals in Spain, Mexico, Canada and Qatar, as well as healthcare assistance and transport services at Barajas airport and the Autonomous Community of Aragon. The company operates handling services at several airports in Spain, Europe and Latin America. And it is responsible for the cleaning and maintenance of more than 1,800 railway stations and for waste management and street cleaning in various municipalities in Spain.

Electricity, water, hospitals, airports, railways, waste management: these and other services must be fully available in this health crisis. They may not be always visible, but they are indispensable in that they allow our communities to function as normally as possible, given the circumstances.

On the other hand, ACCIONA has temporarily suspended its bike sharing service in all Spanish cities (Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville and Zaragoza) and in the rest of the European Union (Milan and Lisbon).

To guarantee the health and safety of our employees in all services that remain operational, the company has provided protective equipment and all the necessary hygiene measures. Workspaces have been reorganized to ensure adequate social distancing.

In addition, ACCIONA's Security Centre (CSA) monitors the situation 24 hours a day and offers the necessary support to those employees who need to resolve situations or have doubts about the best way to proceed. So far, the CSA has dealt with more than 15,000 requests.

  • Health Clinic: ACCIONA has reinforced its medical video consultation service for employees. It is currently staffed by a team of six doctors, supported by health and administrative personnel.
  • Travel restrictions: Business travel has been suspended during the crisis.
  • Innovation. The company has joined initiatives such as Energía Positiva+ and Startup Olé to seek solutions to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 through collaborative innovation. ACCIONA is already analyzing the first proposals.

Community care

ACCIONA is working with a number of public institutions and social agents to help mitigate the effects of the virus. The company has put together a dedicated taskforce, specifically created and organized for this purpose. ACCIONA is cooperating with more than 75 public institutions and social agents all over the world to help to mitigate the effects of the virus.

  • CUSTOMERS. In view of the critical situation faced by many small and medium-sized enterprises in Spain, we are giving our clients the option to postpone the payment of electricity bills until the second half of the year.
  • Health emergency. We work with the different local authorities providing support.
    • In hospitals managed by ACCIONA, as the Infanta Sofía Hospital in San Sebastián de los Reyes (Madrid), we are taking steps to reinforce our services (some 300 employees in this specific hospital), while giving staff more rest and salary recognition for their work. All staffers are being given free access to vending machines, and we are making fruit and other food freely available. In addition, we have given patients free access to the television service.

    • We helped to set up the field hospital in Ifema, Madrid's convention centre, with staff of 30 workers, resources and technical assistance for the installation of medical gases for patients.
    • In Panama, we are collaborating with the authorities in the execution, maintenance and supply of a 100-bed field hospital and 10 ICUs.
  • Protection gear. We are carrying out important donations to different hospitals and institutions.
    • Masks. Hospital Infanta Sofía (Madrid), Hospital San Francisco de Asís (Madrid), Little Sisters of the Poor (Madrid), Spain's National Police Force, Spain's Interior Ministry, Pamplona's Local Police, etc.
    • Head nets. We have made one million disposable hairnets available to hospitals, care centers, residences, etc. throughout Spain. Several hospitals in the Community of Madrid, Aragon and Catalonia are already using them. These are the nets usually used with the helmet in our motor-sharing service
    • 3D printing. We are using the printers available in the company to manufacture about 200 protective masks for healthcare personnel at the Infanta Sofia Hospital per week.
  • Logistical support and cleaning services. We are making our corporate capacities, resources and personnel available to public administrations and various entities involved in transport (vans or motorbikes), logistics (storage spaces), structures (positioning of work booths), cleaning (normal and specialised) and maintenance, for institutions that do not have resources at the moment. Among others:
    • We cooperate with public administrations, providing relational and logistical support for the management of international purchases.
    • In Italy, we will make 50 electric motorcycles available to the Milano Aiuta initiative for the daily distribution of aid to people in need by the NGO Emergency. The motorcycles, which will have all the health protection measures, will be assigned to a single user.
    • We are providing the cleaning service in several Room Mate hotels in Madrid and Barcelona that are housing health personnel, through employees who were going to be affected by temporary employment regulation measures.
    • We have made ourselves available to the Red Cross in Madrid to collaborate in the disinfection of several of their premises, in various locations in the Autonomous Community.
    • We are also helping Hospital La Paz to transport Personal Protection Equipments (PPEs) with personnel and vans from the suspended mobility service.
    • We are collaborating with Hospital Ramón y Cajal, Hospital La Paz Hospital and Hospital Infanta Sofía by taking medication to homes and residences for the elderly with patients suffering from other illnesses who would be at risk of coronavirus contagion if they came to collect it from the hospital. The delivery is made without physical contact with the patients in their homes or residences.
    • In Seville, we are working with the local Food Bank, collecting and delivering food from suppliers or entities with logistical limitations. We use vans and volunteer staff from ACCIONA's mobility service, which has been suspended.
  • Other services provided.
    • acciona.org has deferred payment of the micro-quotas for maintaining clean water and energy services in remote communities in Cajamarca and Loreto, Peru, and in Ngäbe-Buglé, Panama.
    • In Mexico, Chile and South Africa we are carrying out various donations (hygiene kits, prevention kits, food, containers to be used for medical purposes, etc.) to around 45 communities near our renewable energy parks.
    • In India, where the company is active in the energy sector, ACCIONA was one of the first companies to help in setting up the National COVID-19 Funds, promoted by the government.
    • We are donating bags of food to centres run by the Little Sisters of the Poor (Madrid) and the Daughters of Charity (Zaragoza) on a daily basis.
    • Bodegas Palacio will dedicate 10% of its sales through bodegadirecta.es to Fundación Hogar Sí, in order to help the homeless, a group that has been very affected during this health crisis. In addition, Almudena Alberca, the wineries' technical director, is offering a mini-series of video-tasting sessions on social networks with the aim of entertaining homebound citizens.

Our goal is to assist in every possible way with our expertise in palpable actions that have positive social benefits. We are also asking our employees to suggest new ways in which we can help.

ACCIONA'S TEAM

The response of everyone in our company in the face of this situation is outstanding, both for the responsibility they have shown in their jobs, and for their solidarity and generosity. To further encourage this spirit of collaboration, we have taken the following steps:

  • We have promoted a Notice Board on our internal communication channels, which includes all kinds of initiatives for collaboration by our human teams. Employees are contributing their ideas and skills to help others and contribute to the well-being of all. Strengthening communication tools also helps to maintain team spirit and the ability to be there for each other, giving support, advice, sharing images or simply talking.
  • Wherever possible, we are giving people affected by temporary layoffs the option to continue working in another essential service in need reinforcement, or to take part in the rest of the activities we have set up in collaboration with the authorities.
  • Thanks to the Fundación José Manuel Entrecanales, we are making two state-of-the-art technological platforms available to employees and their families while the health emergency lasts:

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Acciona SA published this content on 20 April 2020 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 20 April 2020 13:25:04 UTC