Measures taken by BESIX Group in Belgium in response to the COVID-19 pandemic

On Tuesday 17 March 2020, the Belgian federal government took a series of new measures to combat the spread of COVID-19. These will have consequences for the staff of BESIX and its subsidiaries in Belgium.

Companies are under the obligation to organise telework as much as possible, without exception. This means that everyone working for BESIX and its subsidiaries active in Belgium now works in confinement at home. For positions which do not allow teleworking, rules of social distancing (>1.5m between people) will be strictly respected, both at work and in transport.

However, BESIX Group and its subsidiaries are active on (large) construction sites, where these social distancing measures are difficult to reconcile with the very nature of the activities. On the basis of these measures and this observation, BESIX and its Belgian subsidiaries have taken the decision to continue working on building sites on a case-by-case basis, after a precise analysis of the conditions on each site.

Rik Vandenberghe, CEO, BESIX Group: "Combating COVID-19 is a collective effort and we all have an active role to play in limiting the spread of the virus. We are aware that we are going through a worrying period, but it is our duty to put in place all measures necessary to preserve the health, well-being and safety of all our employees and the local communities in which we are active."