COVID-19 outbreak reported at Stahlbush Island Farms | Local
“We employed (preventative) measures early on, and that (low positivity rate) tells us we’re on the right track,” she said.
Well before the outbreak was discovered, Chambers said, the company implemented a number of safety precautions, including requiring social distancing and face masks, realigning equipment, temporarily halting the processing of some products that put workers too close together, installing Plexiglas barriers and extra hand-washing stations, requiring temperature checks and staggering employee lunch breaks.
Linn County Commissioner Roger Nyquist credited Chambers for taking a proactive approach to containing the virus at her business.
“As the problems occurred at the veterans home (starting in March), she engaged us about best practices and looking for the best (testing) equipment available,” Nyquist said. “She’s been on top of it from Day One.”
Aaron Corvin, a spokesman for the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division, said his agency has fielded two coronavirus-related complaints regarding Stahlbush Island Farms.
The first, received on March 25, was investigated and closed without any citation being issued because “we determined the company’s response to the allegations involved in that case was adequate,” Corvin said.
The second complaint, received on July 29, alleges that the company is not requiring workers to wear masks indoors and that company owners and managers do not wear masks on the job. That complaint, Corvin said, remains under investigation.
