- The crews responsible for maintaining epidemiological prevention safeguards will thereby obtain another 2 hours after every shift to maintain cleanliness and disinfect all critical areas (for example, cleaning, disinfection and airing out the mining shower rooms between shifts) - says Artur Dyczko, Vice-President of JSW SA and head of the crisis management team.

The following exceptions to this new system of work are as follows: jobs that must be manned continuously and whose presence in a mine is needed to ensure the mine’s safe operation (e.g. rescue services, manning the major pumping stations, switchyard, shafts) and in situations in which threats must be eliminated. The crisis management team set up by the CEO of JSW SA has made the decision to change the organization of work in the mines. Preparations to phase in this decision lasted several days. The three-shift system will make it possible for subsequent shifts to avoid contact with one another in critical areas: in the pithead, in the shower rooms, in the headframe, in the shaft bottom and in the underground mining pits. How the work done by managers is handled in JSW’s mines had already been modified. Employees holding this rank were divided into shifts so as not to interact with one another at work. This has made it possible to curtail the risk of infection.

- The group of people needed to maintain mine operation is limited in every mine. We cannot allow a situation to occur in which all the staff members would have to be quarantined - said the head of the crisis management team.

The mines will continue to conduct their work on an unfettered basis to install and remove equipment from longwalls and perform roadway excavation.

The crisis management team appreciates that absenteeism may rise. The equipped longwalls will be secured and poised to kick off operation when conditions become conducive.