Tyson Foods using walk-through temperature scanners

United States
Published:  14 April, 2020

The U.S. meatpacker said it has purchased over 150 infrared walk-through temperature scanners to combat the COVID-19 spread, which have been installed in four facilities so far.

Tyson Foods has so far installed the infrared walk-through temperature scanners at its pork plants located in the U.S. states of Iowa and Indiana, and at its poultry plants in Arkansas and Georgia. The meatpacker expects that, eventually, each of its food production facilities will have at least one of the non-contact scanners in place. “Just because it can detect a fever, doesn’t mean it can identify someone who potentially has COVID-19. We know that the virus can be in people who are asymptomatic. That’s why we’ve implemented other protective measures since January”, said Tom Brower, Senior Vice President of Health and Safety, Tyson Foods.

Brower said the company formed an internal COVID-19 task force in January and began isolating team members who could be at-risk by virtue of their travel. By the end of February, business travels had been limited and team members educated about COVID-19 through digital signage, videos and other communications.