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'Project P' Struggle Against SARS
for 90Days to Secure Polyplastics Safety
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From the left
Jun Uchida
Wataru Kobayashi
Tomomi Chigono
Shoich Yoshikawa
Yoshinori Nakamura
Naoyuki Komachi |
Prologue: Mr. Naoyuki Komachi (Polyplastics Co., Ltd. Personnel Department )
He went on a business trip to Hong Kong on March 17th, 2003, his first overseas voyage in six years and his second overall.
That very morning, the news that pneumonia was rampant in Hong Kong had broken. At that time, the name of SARS was yet to emerge.
The next day, President Bush declared that the U.S. would attack Iraq. The same day, the Polyplastics Group declared overseas business trips prohibited. Since then, overseas business trips have been banned, and over the past three months, no one has made the return trip between Japan and Hong Kong. He was the last voyager.
Mask procurement
March 31st, 2003: Komachi discovered by chance while making a phone call on another matter that Daicel Chemical Industries Co., Ltd. manufactured and marketed masks. The next day he went straight to that company to look at the actual product. His first order was for 500 masks.
Of these 500, 100 each were sent to Hong Kong, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur, Kuantan, and Singapore. At this point, arrangements were not made for Taiwan and Thailand as the danger level was viewed as low.
Biochemical Mask
Surface Wipes
Ms.Tomomi Chigono (Polyplastics Co., Ltd. Personnel Department )
April 2nd: She headed off to town to look for a surface wipes, and hunted for a pharmacy. There were various types available, including antiseptic, sterilizing, and wet types, and for the time being she purchased some samples, and returned to the company. It was decided to adopt the sterilizing type. However, there was no stock at the pharmacy. A special favor was asked of the pharmacy to collect product displayed at other branches. By the next day, 100 packs were somehow secured. The pharmacy would not deliver, so arrangements were made for collection. While they might just have been surface wipes, 100 packs added up to some weight. Although the distance was short, a taxi was used on the return journey.
The same day, 96 packs were sent to Malaysia.
SARS Emergency Measures Committee
A meeting was held at 11 AM on April 8th, with company executives and major business unit managers in attendance. President and CEO Yasumasa Komura had adjudged it to be dangerous conditions for the company, and a decision-making body was also established in order to secure continuation of business, while protecting the health and safety of employees,
Without fully comprehending the situation, Komachi was instructed to attend the meeting. He thought it was merely to report the dispatch of masks and surface wipes, but his name was raised as a member of the emergency measures committee.
Eyes Expression has never been that important
SARS Database
Mr. Jun Uchida (Polyplastics Co., Ltd. Sales Planning Group )
Besides Komachi, he participated as a member in addition to business unit managers.
He had previous work experience in Taiwan, and having experience with the major earthquake that hit Taiwan, he had strong knowledge as to what kind of local support could be received. He emphasized "information sharing" many times.
Clearly defining information sources, he sought to thoroughly distinguish between information and judgments based on this information.
He was the one that proposed Polyplastics' decision standard to be based on WHO.
On April 14th, SARS-related information was consolidated into a SARS database and loaded onto NOTES. Uchida compiled general information from WHO, Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and other sources, and included them in the database, and did his utmost to make the relevant information available for decision-making. This was not the role originally requested of him. However, from his knowledge of what the required information was and the appropriateness of the selection of routes for obtaining information, he naturally came to shoulder the central role.
About 2,000 items of information were compiled on the database, of which about 70% were items compiled by him.
Various Types of Mask
Daily Report:
Daily reports from local subsidiaries were published in the database. A major role of the committee members was to carefully read these daily reports and think of the next countermeasure. Simultaneously, problem issues in the field were communicated with a sense of reality.
There was a report of an infected person in the same building as the Shanghai office, but this was immediately adjudged to be misinformation.
Similarly, there was a report that the parents of a Shanghai employee were suspected of having SARS, although they were living at a separate location. Although this employee waited for the time being, the employee was found not have SARS, and was able to return to work safely.
In Hong Kong, two employees lived in the same apartment building as a SARS patient, and they were placed on home work for 10 days.
From Japan, the daily report comprised almost always of "nothing to report."
Every Tuesday:
The Emergency Measures Committee met every Tuesday at 9:30 AM. They identified global SARS trends and the situations at local subsidiaries, and made decisions when there were pending problems. Depending on the issue, detailed investigations were sometimes required, upon which these issues would be put back until the following week.
At first, the meeting was scheduled to be hold for 30 minutes, but the meeting could extend for two hours.
Once the meeting concluded, the WORKING TEAM was called together. The five members were Mr. Shoichi Yoshikawa (Polyplastics Co., Ltd Executive Officer & General Manager of General Administration Department ), Mr. Yoshinori Nakamura (Deputy Department Manager of General Administration Department ), Mr. Wataru Kobayashi (Deputy Department Manager of Logistic Center ), Mr. Uchida, and Mr. Komachi.
This meeting would discuss how to handle the policies proposed at the committee meeting in concrete terms, where to draw the line, how to communicate information, and how to delegate work towards next week's meeting. However, ideas were hard to agree upon. Nothing could be done if too much was thought of risks. Vague decisions would lead to varied understandings at local subsidiaries. However, via this discussion, it once more gradually became clear what the function of the SARS Emergency Measures Committee's Working Team was. In addition, the proposals made here came to have a significant meaning as actual countermeasures that had to be studied in detail by the Risk Management Committee, which was set up afterwards (on June 10th ).
Lovers' DIY Masks
Spray:
The support material to follow masks and surface wipes was alcohol disinfecting spray, and it was thence dispatched.
The decision was made because the 50-ml size of the bottle made it easy to carry and very convenient for disinfecting the hands with.
Initially, there were no problems, and shipments were received by Hong Kong and Shanghai. However, trouble occurred when a shipment was attempted to Taiwan. As the spray was considered a hazardous material, it could not be shipped.
The shipment was initially returned, so a route to send it was investigated. The next shipper asked for a MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet ) to be sent. The shipment could be sent, according to the shipper, but as it was a hazardous material it would take about one week. The third shipping company contacted finally said that the shipment could be delivered by the next day.
However, another problem emerged several days after the shipment was dispatched. A very expensive invoice was received from the shipping company. This was because the shipment corresponded to an export of a commodity. Shipments could have been continued if another material was substituted that could be shipped at lower cost, but in the end, a decision was made to abandon shipments of the spray.
Thermometers and Thermometer Covers
SARS resulted in a surge in sales of ear-type thermometers. These devices enable the body temperature to be taken in the space of several seconds. However, hygienic problems are associated with the sharing of such thermometers. The need for proof covers for use with thermometers also rose rapidly. However, stocks of these covers reached rock bottom at various shops. Stock could not be found at all in the vicinity, and manufacturers themselves did not even have any inventory. Procurement was carried out as far away as neighboring prefectures. Initially, 15 boxes (300 covers ) were procured from a place called Okegawa City. Furthermore, an order for 50 more boxes was placed and paid for, but about three days later, a phone call was received. "We could not receive them from the manufac turer. We will send the 30 boxes we currently have in stock, but we are sorry we can do no more than that."
The covers were sent to the Singapore and Hong Kong local subsidiaries, with apologies that no more could be sent.
Fashionable Masks
Hong Kong NOW: REPORT FROM HONGKONG
" SAR" is the short form of "Special Administration Region" for Hong Kong after it was handed back to China in 1997. Ironically, SARS, "Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome", had broken out in this "SAR" last spring. And the number of people it killed by the ailment is a plural numbers that spells out the last alphabet "S".
Since this virus is new to the world, there is no precautionary medicine or injection
available. We could only pay more attention to personal hygiene like washing
our hands frequently and putting on surgical facemasks wherever we go — the
theater, the shopping arcade, the school, the office, or even in the street.
Following the Government's advice, we started to clean our apartments with a
1:99 ratio of bleach to water almost everyday as prevention. Public lobbies and
elevators were being cleaned with detergent every 2 hours. Whenever we travel,
body temperature measurement is a must. Those with body temperatures above 38°C
would not be allow onboard.
However, Hong Kong people are always energetic and creative. We always look for new sensations in our lives. Regardless of the inconvenience that it brought to us, we soon turned surgical masks into amusement and fashion elements. People would draw laughing faces on their masks and new funny faces would show up whenever they changed to a new one. Some people also made DIY branded masks by adorning a piece of branded logo cloth on the top of their masks. We could see LV, Gucci, Burberry, and Hello Kitty masks here and there.
Selling surgical masks doubtlessly became the only business that had a positive impact from SARS. If Daicel Chemical's deodorant masks were sold in Hong Kong, it would surely make a good fortune. Or, if we have the Polyplastics logo imprinted on it, it would become the most favorite premium gift of all time!
What's more, since we could not travel as freely as we used to, Hong Kong is having a "We Love Hong Kong" campaign that encourages domestic consumption. The result is quite satisfying so far.
Everything has a good side and a bad side. If we look at it positively, we now show more concern to the environment and take care of ourselves better. Hong Kong has become an even more adorable place for you all to visit and to dwell in.
REPORTED BY Winnie Ho (Polyplastics China Ltd. )
"We love Hong Kong" Campaign Logo
Taiwan NOW: REPORT FROM TAIWAN
April 23rd: The first report of a SARS infection at the Taipei Municipal Hoping Hospital made us very fearful. Before this, people returning from the Mainland were quarantined, and the situation was not that severe in the lives of Taiwan's citizens. The infection of close people, the unestablished infection route, and the lack of means of treatment sent people's lives into a panic.
In our work, the SARS danger was initially centered on the city of Taipei, so even if we wanted to visit customers in Taichung and Kaohsiung, the customers refused out visits, and as infected persons had emerged from airplanes and buses, movement became impossible.
From the personal life perspective, the first thing we thought of was the safety of our children.
Masks were made compulsory when commuting to school, and a situation arose whereby masks could not satisfactorily be sourced. This problem was able to be resolved through receiving stable mask support from Japan.
In addition, alcohol for disinfecting could not be sourced, and as a substitute, Japanese shochu (distilled spirits made from barley ) was adopted.
Families could be repatriated to Japan due to the timing of the school holidays at the Japanese School, and this was swiftly achieved through the fast responses of Mr. Satoshi Terada (Chairman and President, Polyplastics Taiwan Co., Ltd. ), and the Japanese side.
An interested anecdote was the rumor that pineapples and tomatoes exhibited anti-SARS effects, so mysterious phenomena resulted, such as the price of pineapples jumped to 4 6-times the normal price, and tomato juice disappearing from convenience store shelves. In addition, temperatures were taken no matter where anyone went. This was needless to say the case at restaurants and department stores, as well as banks, government offices, and hospitals. Even if one had a fever, they could not go to hospital. If indeed one did have a fever, he/she was required to call a dedicated SARS hotline, and be isolated at a designated hospital. One found oneself in a situation where careless catching of a cold was definitely not desirable.
We were very grateful to receive warm support from everybody.
REPORTED BY Takashi Ochiai (Polyplastics Taiwan Co., Ltd. )
Final Stage No. 1
At the beginning of June, it still could not be said that SARS was in its final stages.
The Emergency Measures Committee made some major decisions.
One was concerning the rule whereby after returning from an infected area, employees were required to stay at home for 10 days. This rule was made applicable only to C level areas. For other areas, the wait period was not required.
The second decision regarded China. Whereas previously, the entire country was considered an infected area, the country would now be examined on a provincial (or special administration region ) unit basis.
It was June 5th.
One fact proved the swiftness of this timing. On June 9th, Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs changed its way of designating infected areas from China as a whole to a provincial unit basis. The decision of our company was four days earlier than the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Final Stage No. 2
By June 13th, the number of infected areas had declined to just four. (Just Taiwan and Hong Kong with regards to areas concerning Polyplastics. )
After the conclusion of the regular SARS Emergency Measures Committee meeting on June 17th, it was decided that meetings would only be held when required.
Hong Kong's designation was removed on June 23rd,
Strangely, this was the very day that Mr. Eiji Shigeki started at his new post in Hong Kong. The official announcement of his transfer to Polyplastics China Ltd. had been made on April 1st, but his actual transfer had been postponed due to SARS.
Conclusion
The last region to be declared no longer SARS-infected was Taiwan.
On July 7th, President and CEO Komura declared a conclusion, which marked the end of the company's comprehensive efforts to combat SARS.
While various restrictions existed, the company was fortunate not to have suffered any human losses through SARS. However, one cannot be careless or complacent. Moreover, the cause of SARS has not been identified, and treatment methods have not been established. We only pray that the same problem does not reoccur next winter.
Mask Stock:
One problem remains. It is the stock of masks. We somehow managed to source masks from Daicel FineChem despite its severe production schedule, and as we were preferentially supplied, we could not very well cancel the order. We took delivery of 10,000 masks on June 20th, and after that, the subsequent planned order of 20,000 was cancelled.
We ordered a total of 61,500 masks, and 8,400 are still in stock. Or so we thought! On July 4th, 1,500 masks were returned from Singapore. We have no excuses for the fact that we are trying to reduce inventory levels across the company, but if by any chance there is a repetition of SARS next year, we will have some masks in preparation.
REPORTED AND EDITED By Naoyuki Komachi
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