Baker stresses phase one restart decisions up to employers

Photo/SHNS Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker

Write a Comment

By State House News Service

Two days after telling some types of businesses how they could reopen as COVID-19 data trends in a positive direction, Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday emphasized that there's no need for any company or religious institution uncomfortable with the idea of reopening to come back to work.

"No one who's part of phase one has to do anything," Baker said.

Baker and Lt Gov. Karyn Polito visited a plumbing parts manufacturer in Braintree Wednesday to see firsthand how a local business is implementing new workplace safety standards required by the state in order to resume some normal operations. Manufacturing was one of three sectors, including constructions and houses of worship, that were allowed to go back to work immediately under the first phase of the reopening plan that Baker detailed on Monday.

Symmons Industries CEO Tim O'Keeffe said the company is rehiring employees after implementing layoffs during the shutdown, during which the company began producing ear-savers for masks and copper, antimicrobial door and button push tools. O'Keeffe said the company has learned techniques to make employees feel comfortable with new rules, such as temperature checks when they arrive for a shift.

Symmons now pumps '80s music into the hallway as temperatures are recorded to lighten the mood. While employers like Symmons are ramping back up, Baker also said he was encouraged by the number of companies that said they would continue to have employees work from home, calling it "absolutely the right thing to do." But he acknowledged the consequence of remote work.

"That will create some distance and it won't just be physical distance. There will be a lost opportunity there for people to engage with one another," Baker said.