Leading domestic and international authorities and administrations have taken extraordinary measures in an attempt to check the spread of the COVID-19 virus, which the WHO classified as a pandemic on March 11, and which is having such a significant impact on the world economy.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the Elecnor Group has monitored and designed action protocols adapted to the recommendations issued by the Spanish Ministry of Health and competent authorities in each market where we operate, always putting the protection of our workers' health and safety foremost in our list of priorities.
Alongside these health measures, the Elecnor Group has made a number of decisions to deal with what is both an exceptional and extremely complex situation, one which is putting the entire global economy on alert. We are working to reorganise the Group's production activity while complying with Health and Safety regulations, and we continue to maintain critical infrastructure in the energy, telecommunications, water, gas and transport sectors, providing an essential service for all utilities.
In this adverse environment, which we hope will pass as quickly as possible, the Group has decided to activate a series of measures to preserve our future. By implementing this plan, we will be able to get all the workforce back to work as soon as economic activity is restored. As things stand, there is no way we can predict how the situation will unfold, nor can we have a time line of when things will get back to the way they were before the pandemic, or accurately estimate how the crisis will have impacted our businesses.
Measures implemented
Our priority is to ensure the safety of our employees, customers and suppliers, as well as to consolidate the Group's position and strengthen it is as strong as possible. Accordingly, Elecnor has carried out several initiatives aligned with the recommendations issued by authorities. Many employees are working from home.
- Creation of the COVID-19 Monitoring Committee. The functions of this Committee are to define all the recommendations to be made during the period of the COVID-19 epidemic, specifying the general outline of the actions to be taken, information and training initiatives, actions aimed at establishing contingency measures, the allocation of all necessary human, material and economic resources, and monitoring changes in behaviour, etc., always as part of the actions ordered by the competent authorities and the possibilities permitted by any restrictions of means which the crisis may provoke.
- Elecnor's COVID-19 Monitoring Committee has prepared an Action Plan, with a raft of measures aligned with the recommendations of the health authorities, to guarantee health protection and thus limit the possible spread of the virus, including an ad hoc manual of safety and protection measures for all the people who carry out their work on our sites.
- Creation of a Special Contingency Plan which includes the modifications of the new recommendations and guidelines issued by the relevant Spanish and international authorities. This plan also defines the scope of action of Elecnor and its employees as essential suppliers to critical system operators.
- We have activated the “Action procedure for Occupational Health and Safety Services in relation to exposure to SARS-CoV-2”. This means that any of our employees who have any kind of cardiovascular disease (including high blood pressure), diabetes, chronic lung, liver or kidney disease, cancer which is being actively treated, immunodeficiencies or who are pregnant, are being specially monitored.
- By implementing our Digital Transformation project in the Group, we have been able to react effectively to this crisis by encouraging employees in all company areas—especially those included in risk groups—to work from home whenever possible.
One of the measures included in the Action Plan is a temporary employment adjustment programme, which is being applied progressively, depending on the extent to which the virus has spread to the territories where our Group operates. We take these decisions, making use of employment adjustment mechanisms which have been legally deemed most apt to overcome this crisis, to ensure the best outcome for the company and all its employees.
The Group is also reviewing all its operating expenses globally to reduce those costs that are discretionary. It is also postponing what are considered to be less pressing investments, in order to safeguard liquidity during this uncertain period.
Elecnor's contribution to managing the health crisis
The Government has decreed a series of essential economic activities to cope with people's special needs caused by the exceptional circumstances brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic in various areas, such as health, care services and technology. Elecnor is carrying out a large number of tasks in some of these areas—tasks which are crucial to maintain economic activity, working to assist the healthcare sector, and promoting teleworking or study formulas.
Here are some examples of our contribution:
- In the telecommunications area, the Group is completing the high-level maintenance of the equipment of Telefónica’s fixed and mobile networks across a good part of Spain. These tasks—promoting teleworking, or distance learning, using digital contents—are essential and are paramount to maintain economic activity. Elecnor is also working with Telefónica to maintain its air conditioning and energy equipment in its buildings across half of Spain, and also the customer service of the entire fixed network subscriber network in 11 provinces. It is also doing the same for Orange's fixed network subscriber network in 20 provinces.
- In the area of healthcare, Elecnor is helping to ensure that a good number of hospitals remain fully functional throughout Spain. It is carrying out various types of maintenance and assistance tasks in the Ramón y Cajal and San Carlos hospitals in Madrid, and also in different health centres, local offices and Primary Care buildings which are part of the Madrid Region Health Department. Elecnor is working on maintenance and adaptation tasks with the Quirón Group to increase the number of ICU rooms in its hospital network. Comprehensive maintenance work is also being managed at the facilities of the Emergency Service of the Principality of Asturias and at four buildings belonging to the Ilunion Group, which have turned their hospitals into healthcare facilities for victims and medical personnel in Madrid and Seville. Lastly, Elecnor helped to set up a provisional morgue in the Court of Justice building in Madrid.
- In the area of energy supplies, the Group is maintaining its activities so that the large electricity operators, Iberdrola, Endesa, Naturgy and Viesgo, can channel the transmission and distribution of energy to Spanish households without any type of incident. Elecnor is also maintaining its comprehensive maintenance service for the entire Canal de Isabel II network, ensuring the water supply for the city of Madrid.
Elecnor hopes that all those of you that have been affected by this virus make a speedy recovery. And we would like to take to take this opportunity to say a special thank you to the healthcare professionals and all those of you who are putting so much time and energy into protecting us all.
Last but not least, the Group would like to thank all its employees for their commitment, effort, personal sacrifice and sense of responsibility, particularly those employees working in what are considered to be essential lines of work in these difficult times. We are confident that we will be able to continue with these tasks, befitting of our status as one of the leading companies in our industry.
