THE Malaysian Rubber Gloves Manufacturers Association (MARGMA) has made a pledge that should be emulated by all employers: “We are willing to vaccinate all our employees within the glove industry at our expense on an urgent basis if vaccines can be made available.”
MARGMA president Dr Supramaniam Shanmugam made the statement after reiterating the support of the glove maker fraternity towards the Government’s effort to combat the rampaging COVID-19 cases in the country.
“We have issued several notices to our members to ensure timely periodical COVID-19 test on our staff and workers, and to carry out sustainable sanitisation of the workplaces as well,” he noted in a media statement.
“We believe that our members are experienced and matured enough to cope with the 60% ordinance while ensuring enough glove is being produced for the requirement of the world.”
While agreeing that productivity could be hampered a little by the 60% workforce ruling, MARGMA said its members will cope with the staff shortage situation to ensure that this will not severely constrain the production of the important personal protective equipment (PPE).
“Current lead times on delivery will be slightly longer,” projected Supramaniam. “Malaysian manufacturers, produce 67% of global supply: we hence, have a responsibility to all humanity of the World and we will do our best to manage the situation.”
Very broadly, the demand for gloves, remains extremely robust for the healthcare sector with industry players gearing up to meet the demand of the non-healthcare sectors which are slowly but surely moving towards a recovery program, according to MARGMA.
“As Europe and America move towards a recovery economic agenda, it means the awakening of the non-healthcare sectors such as food handling, industrial, cleanroom laboratory, dermatology, tattooing etc,” the association opined.
“Traditionally, this sector requires about 17 % of all gloves produced and this will be a hefty number to contend with.” – June 1, 2021.
