Bay Area Research Logistics (BARL) would like to assure our clients that product quality and patient safety is of the utmost importance to our company and our employees. The development of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has created a challenging situation for many individuals and businesses. We take pride in putting our customer first and ensuring the integrity of the company and the services we provide.
As a result of the changing dynamics of this crisis, Bay Area Research Logistics is taking multiple precautionary steps, following the suggestions of Canadian and international health authorities, we are creating the best possible environment to limit the contraction and spread of the virus. As part of our internal procedures, we have implemented a Business Continuity Plan to ensure that BARL addresses this situation appropriately, with the goal of minimizing risk to product and processes.
These measures include:
- Establishing a work-from-home policy and assigning work teams to work on isolated days to allow employees to limit the spread of the illness if necessary, while ensuring that the business continues to run as required;
- The Health and Safety Committee at Bay Area Research Logistics meets at least daily for updates and to provide the appropriate communication to all other staff as the situation changes;
- Social distancing, and eliminating all corporate travel;
- Additional sanitization procedures for all employees (including increased frequency of sanitization of work surfaces and equipment, increased frequency of hand washing)
- Increased supply of PPE and sanitation equipment to ensure there are no shortages in these essential items during this time and to accommodate the increase in their usage;
- Ensuring that staff knows the next in line management/decision maker should the first line of contact be unavailable;
- General training and communication about how to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among employees and their families.
In order to maintain our services, we will be implementing the following (PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY, AS THIS AFFECTS CLIENT SCHEDULING):
- Bay Area Research Logistics will start operating 7 days a week, with smaller staff complements.
- Shipping will be limited to Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The barl@barl.ca email will be updated every day.
- Production activities (e.g. labelling, bottling, and packaging) and Receiving will occur on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
- All shipments must be pre-arranged with BARL through the Clinical Trial Coordinator team. Unannounced shipments may not be received if staff are not available.
- On demand procedures may be delayed.
- Communication with clients may be delayed. Please prioritize emails as: HIGH, MEDIUM, LOW in the subject line so that BARL can appropriately triage responses.
- The quality@barl.ca and guarascik@barl.ca email addresses will be monitored every day. Please cc these addresses to all communication to reduce the possibility of response delays.
- SAP programs will continue as per regular practices.
If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact your Clinical Trial Coordinator, and to stay up to date on this situation please visit Canada’s Public Health website.
Thank you for your continued support of Bay Area Research Logistics and we trust that you and your families remain healthy.
Sincerely,
Bay Area Research Logistics Team
