A worker in the boning hall in the ABP plant in Co Tipperary has been confirmed as having COVID-19, the company has confirmed.

The worker, who is understood to be from Brazil, and a large number of people who worked alongside him are now self-isolating in accordance with the HSE guidelines.

The factory employs some 650 workers annually.

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A spokesperson for ABP said: "On Friday, ABP Cahir was notified of a positive COVID-19 test of one of its employees, after being referred for testing as a result of the company’s factory entrance employee assessment procedures.

"In line with HSE and company protocols, all close contacts of the worker are self-isolating and are now undergoing testing. ABP Cahir will continue to take guidance and direction from both the HSE and the HSA in relation to the case."

Kill and scale

The cattle kill in Cahir was reduced to half the usual throughput on Monday and factory management has indicated that the kill will also be down 50% on Wednesday.

Cahir is one of the biggest beef plants in the country, processing close to 400 cattle per day.

It is one of the biggest employers in the region, with an Oxford Economics and KPMG report in 2015 showing that it supported an additional 1,334 jobs in the wider economy.

The ABP plant in Cahir, Co Tipperary, employs 650 people.

Measures taken

The ABP spokesperson told the Irish Farmers Journal that since the advent of COVID-19, ABP Cahir has introduced a wide range ofprotection measures as part of a company-wide initiative that began on 16 March.

The measures include:

  • Temperature and wellbeing checks at factory entrance for all colleagues.
  • Additional sanitisation stations across the site.
  • The increase in floor capacity of canteen areas.
  • The introduction of perspex partitions between work stations where appropriate.
  • Additional PPE for colleagues.
  • Reduced staff presence through staggered work breaks and shift start and end times.
  • Appointment of site COVID-19 marshals to help everyone to manage and understand the new processes.
  • Multilingual signage and briefing packs.
  • Detailed procedures for managing incidents of employees becoming unwell in the workplace and investigating clusters of any potentially linked illnesses.
  • Space control measures in changing rooms.
  • Stopping of all non-essential visitors to the site.
  • Dedicated toilet facilities for contractors visiting the site.

    • Walsh Mushrooms

    The Cahir development comes as another food processor, Walsh Mushrooms in Golden, Co Tipperary, awaits further results from its workers.

    The mushroom processor initiated random testing of its workers late last week and subsequently tested all of its employees. So far, 30 have tested positive and more positive results are expected.

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