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Employees go home after living at factory for 28 days to make protective equipment for health care workers

The company said it set up the live-in rotation as a way to keep employees safe and healthy at a time when their work to keep supplies flowing was essential.
Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
closeup N95 air filter mask. personal protective equipment in office with soft-focus and over light in the background

MARCUS HOOK, Pa. — For the first time in almost a month, workers at a manufacturing plant in Pennsylvania got to clock out and head home after volunteering to make materials needed in personal protective equipment.

More than 40 employees spent 28 days at the Braskem America plant in Marcus Hook, near Philadelphia, to make polypropylene, according to a press release from the company. Polypropylene is one of the raw materials used to make N95 masks, hospital gowns and other protective gear. 

The crews worked 12-hour shifts on and off, according to WPVI.

The company said it set up the live-in rotation as a way to keep employees safe and healthy at a time when their work to keep supplies flowing was essential.

Credit: Braskem America

The company said to help make sure the live-in workers were all set, they gave them beds, kitchens, groceries, iPads and access to the internet. They were also given an increase in their pay.

WPVI said the group will get a week off before they go back to regular working hours. 

The company said its Pennsylvania plant makes about 771 million pounds of polypropylene each year.

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