Toyota halts production at Bidadi plant till July 22, 2020, adheres to Karnataka Govt. guidelines

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) has temporarily halted production at its Bidadi plant, starting from July 14, 2020 and going on till July 22, 2020. This update comes as the  Karnataka Government announced re-lockdown in the Bengaluru Urban, Rural from July 14th to July 22nd, 2020. Toyota's announcement on keeping the plant shut for a temporary period is in adherence to the directives issued from the State Government.

TKM was one of the first companies to voluntarily suspend production at its plant in Bidadi, even before the national lockdown was announced in March. This was done to ensure the safety and well-being of all its employees. Thereafter, TKM formed a Restart Manual which had a set of guidelines and best practices which would not only help TKM to restart production at its factory but was also shared with several other big and small organizations across the industry. The company also ensured that its employees and their families received the required professional assistance for both physical and mental health, during the period of the lockdown.

With the help of its dealer partners, TKM put together an exhaustive set of guidelines Dealer Restart for its dealer partners to ensure the safety and well-being of not just its dealer partners but also customers who visit our dealerships. Moreover, to assist our customers who are home bound, TKM has made provisions to digitalize the sales process so as to ensure that our customers are not inconvenienced at any point.

Post unlock, TKM has been prudent about the number of employees working at the plant in Bidadi. At any given point, only 40 to 45% of the production workforce was attending work so as to maintain all norms of social distancing. On a daily basis, all employees have to self-declare their health condition, as a reassurance to their safe health. This has been possible due to the resilient internal communication that TKM has been maintaining with all its employees.

Similarly, TKM has been proactive in a situation where an employee tests Covid-19 positive, the company takes adequate measures to quarantine those employees who are suspected to have had primary or secondary contact with the infected employees through appropriate contact tracing. Furthermore, a thorough process of disinfecting the workplace on a daily basis is ensured along with special deep cleaning and disinfection of the affected areas. TKM has also modified its medical insurance to include COVID-19 treatment and also increased the coverage for all its employees and their family members so as to extend all possible support to them during this pandemic.

The office staff at TKM's corporate and regional offices, continue to work from home to help mitigate risks. In addition to the safety protocols that are being followed, TKM has provided safety kits containing essential items like sanitizers, 3PLY masks and handwashes to 5000 employees, their family members and their neighborhoods benefitting over 25,000 families, thereby looking out for the community as well. TKM understands the urgency of the situation and is taking considerate steps in the larger interest of saving lives and security of the society. During these difficult times, TKM is taking obligatory actions to contain further spread and will continue to respond in accordance with guidance issued by the Government and its internal standards.