OpenRoad Group has implemented several health and safety measures at its dealerships in British Columbia and Washington state as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread.
“Our goal is to continue to provide a safe and welcoming environment. That includes following the lead of local, Canadian and U.S. health authorities by stepping up our health and safety efforts to protect our staff and guests at all of our dealerships in Canada and the United States,” said Christian Chia, CEO of OpenRoad Auto Group. “It’s business as usual but with a lot of extra care and attention being paid to certain areas of our operations.”
The group has implemented 10 measures as part of its COVID-19 health and safety action plan. These include:
- Health and Safety Officers — who are assigned to all dealerships, and are responsible for reporting and guiding a high standard of cleanliness, and staff health safety practices.
- In-Store Community Safety Information — this includes posters and digital screens outlining hand-washing techniques, prevention, and best practices. It’s also on the company’s websites and social media.
- Sanitization Plan — the plan is meant to increase sanitization in all high-traffic area touch-points within the dealership, several times a day, in addition to the daytime cleaning service (during peak times) and nightly cleaning.
- Loaners and Test-Drive Vehicle Preparation — all hard and soft surfaces inside these vehicles are vacuumed and wiped down after a guest or employee uses a vehicle.
- Service Work Preparation — guest vehicles for service in-store are outfitted with steering wheel covers and seat protectors before going through maintenance or repair work. And all OpenRoad technicians are required to wear disposable gloves when working on vehicles.
- Sanitizer Locations – this includes additional hand sanitizer dispensers and locations in all dealerships for customers and staff so they can sanitize their hands throughout the day.
- Discontinuation of Shared Foods – complementary and shared guest café fruits and pastry snacks have been temporarily removed.
- Test Drives and Valet Service – more out-of-dealership test drives and vehicle maintenance valet pickup services are being offered, depending on the dealership.
- Travel Restriction – no unnecessary business travel by staff associates.
- Hand Etiquette – staff associates need to practice frequent hand washing and also refrain from shaking hands with people.
No cases of the virus have been reported at any OpenRoad dealerships.
