BASF Korea joins in nation-wide Coronavirus response with systematic safety management and donations
- Donation of 40 million KRW to Red Cross to support efforts against Coronavirus (Covid-19)
- Systematic emergency response systems in place to ensure safety of employees and communities
- Effective telecommuting measures implemented through to support ‘Social Distancing’ campaign
March 16, 2020 – Seoul, Korea – BASF, together with its employees, has supported the preventive measures against the spread of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) in Korea through a donation initiative and its global emergency response management system.
Employees from BASF Korea initiated a donation campaign that collected 20 million KRW to prevent the further spread of the pandemic. These funds will be matched by the company, totaling 40 million KRW to Red Cross Korea. The donation will be used for purchasing sanitary items such as masks and hand sanitizer for those in need across Kyungbuk and Daegu region, an area with the highest concentration of Covid-19 cases.
“We hope that these donations will help support the people affected by Covid-19,” said Young-Yull Kim, Representative Director of BASF Korea. “At BASF, we will also do our best to overcome these difficult times and prevent further spread of the pandemic.”
The health and safety of people are of the utmost importance to BASF. As part of the precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the virus, BASF Korea has joined in the ‘Social Distancing’ campaign by encouraging employees at the Seoul office to work from home, if business continuity is not impacted. Employees who need to work on-site will receive masks as protective measures. Emergency operation manuals are also in place at eight production sites throughout Korea to ensure safe and stable operations in case of confirmed Covid-19 cases.
BASF’s continuous efforts in digitalization play a critical role in maintaining productivity when telecommuting. The system supports cloud-based data management, sharing, and co-working, as well as instant messaging, audio, and video calls. Moreover, BASF’s advanced security system can protect classified information while it is accessed from external networks, and provide seamless connection regardless of location.
“We really appreciate the efforts of Korea’s medical teams doing their utmost against Covid-19,” said Mark Bueltel-Herz, CFO and Head of Business Services at BASF Korea, “BASF Korea is also working tirelessly towards overcoming the coronavirus as soon as possible by continuously reviewing its safety management systems. The wellbeing of our employees is paramount to us.”
Since 2014, BASF Korea has supported BASF Group’s ‘Trust-Based Working Time’ initiative, a policy to provide greater flexibility and remote working arrangements to employees. In addition, BASF is the first foreign chemical companies in Korea to establish Community Advisory Panels in Korea, an effort to engage with the local community through open and transparent dialog to ensure safe operations and environmental protection.
About BASF in Korea
BASF has been a committed partner to Korea since 1954. As a leading foreign investor in the chemical industry in Korea, BASF operates eight world-scale production sites in the country. The company also maintains the regional headquarters of its Electronic Materials business and the Electronic Materials R&D Center Asia Pacific in Suwon. In addition, three technical development centers are located across Korea. In 2019, BASF posted sales of approximately €1.3 billion to customers in Korea and employed 1,142 employees as of the end of the year. Further information is available on the Internet at www.basf.com/kr.
About BASF
At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. More than 117,000 employees in the BASF Group work on contributing to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio is organized into six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care and Agricultural Solutions. BASF generated sales of €59 billion in 2019. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchange in Frankfurt (BAS) and as American Depositary Receipts (BASFY) in the U.S. Further information at www.basf.com.
