Water treatment represents 65% of SNF’s activity in Andrézieux, France.  Practically all municipal water treatment plants, and most of the industrial plants in France, use SNF products.  These treatment plants cannot operate without these products, and a supply shortage would create a major sanitation crisis.  The release of untreated sludge in rivers would lead, not only to an environmental catastrophe damaging flora and fauna, but also to the pollution of rivers that are used as water sources for drinking water plants downstream.

In the face of the low stock levels at treatment plants in France (a few weeks supply at best), SNF’s Andrézieux facilities must continue its production activities.  This is also due to a 60% order increase since the beginning of this crisis.  All of SNF’s customers are requesting increased stock levels. This is very difficult to manage for SNF due to the large number of water treatment plants in France.

In this context, SNF has taken the following precautionary steps to maintain safe production activities in Andrézieux:

• Non-essential personnel are working from home
• Only production lines remain operational that manufacture products for water treatment and other essential industries
• Protection measures are strictly applied and working hours have been modified in order to avoid any overlap in work shifts
• Control rooms, changing rooms, and showers all have specific schedules in order to maintain sufficient distance between employees
• Safety personnel have been dedicated to maintaining these measures across the facility
• Very strict cleaning measures are applied: door handles, hand rails, keyboards, and screens are disinfected 2 to 3 times per day
• Hand Sanitizer is made available within stock limits

SNF would like to thank all employees, management, administration employees, factory workers, subcontractors, and suppliers that continue to come work and often work overtime in order to compensate the absence of their colleagues.

Finally, thanks to its Chinese production sites, SNF has ordered FFP2 face masks that are distributed to employees and to the neighboring hospitals. To date, SNF has donated 3,500 face masks to the CHU, the HPL, the Mutualiste Clinic and the Montbrison Hospital.

SNF has also started to manufacture Hand Sanitizing gel, but the limiting factor is the availability of alcohol. The first distribution of this gel to the neighboring hospitals began on March 23rd.

For any further inquiries please contact Pascal RÉMY, CEO of the SNF Group.