Milan, Italy - Workers at Ferrari are
signing up en masse for voluntary coronavirus screening so they
can return to work as soon as possible in an ambitious scheme
that could serve as a blueprint for manufacturers desperate to
resume production.
Under its "Back on Track" project, Ferrari staff, families
and suppliers first take blood tests to see if they're clear and
will then be given an app which will alert them if they've been
in close contact with any scheme members who contract Covid-19.
As manufacturers in Europe and North America scramble to
find ways to restart their businesses while keeping the virus
out of production sites, Ferrari's scheme to test workers and
track possible cases of Covid-19 is being closely watched.
The aim is to ensure only healthy staff resume work but if
someone does get the disease, their close contacts will be
alerted by the smartphone app to stay away from the plant until
they've been given the all clear.
"We've all understood we're not indestructible," said
Alberto Zanetti, head of the UILM union in northern Italy's
Modena province, which is home to Ferrari's Maranello plant.
"Workers want to get tested."
Ferrari said 500 out of the 4000 workers at its Italian
plants in Maranello and Modena had already taken tests and the
company had the potential to do about 800 a day.
"This screening will allow us to take an initial picture of
the health status of the tested company's population," said
Ferrari's head of human resources Michele Antoniazzi, adding
that almost everyone offered a test had agreed to have one.
The blood tests show whether an employee is healthy, or
might be infected. In the second case, they then need a swab
test to confirm whether they actually have Covid-19.
Under the scheme, Ferrari will also give specific insurance
coverage to those hospitalised after testing positive and will
arrange temporary accommodation and medical assistance for
anyone who has to self-isolate.
For now, Ferrari's plants remain shut along with other
businesses in Italy deemed non-essential. But the carmaker says
its scheme developed with virologists will help provide a safe
working environment as soon as restrictions are eased.
Anonymity guaranteed
Union boss Zanetti said the aim was to protect individual
production units from the spread of the virus and that he
expected more than 90% of employees to take tests. "Other
companies are calling us to see how it works," he said.
Ferrari only produced just over 10 000 of its luxury sports
cars last year so its initiative might not easily transfer to
bigger automakers that churn out millions of vehicles a year.
However, Ferrari Chairman John Elkann is also chairman of Fiat Chrysler and he said Ferrari would
share the project results. Exor, the holding company
of Italy's Agnelli family, controls both companies.
Gaetano Gargiulo, who works in the R&D department in
Maranello where prototypes of Ferrari's "Prancing Horse"
supercars are built, said he had taken the blood test.
"I did it early in the morning and by 4pm. I'd received
the response on my mobile," said Gargiulo, who is also part of
an internal safety group appointed by fellow workers. "I was
very happy to do it, for me and my family. I know that many
colleagues are pushing to do it as soon as possible".
Gargiulo is also optimistic his fellow workers will agree to
adopt the smartphone app when it's launched. "People are looking
at it as a positive thing. As they agreed to take the blood
test, they'll also use the app," he said.
Ferrari's app adheres to an European initiative called
Pan-European Privacy Preserving Proximity Tracing (PEPP-PT),
which is designed to track transmission chains of Covid-19
without infringing individual privacy.
The Ferrari app was developed by tech startup Bending Spoons
in Milan, the same firm picked by the Italian government to
create a national tracking platform as part of efforts to lift
the nationwide lockdown.
Antoniazzi said the app would only track contacts users have
had with others in the scheme using Bluetooth technology and
would not record movement. Data collected will also be managed
by a company outside Ferrari.
"People will be guaranteed anonymity and therefore privacy."