Businesses and employees have been encouraged to return to work safely. Those that are unable to work from home are encouraged to safely travel to work in a safe working environment.
Many employers have put safe measures in place in preparation for workers. Workers do not need to be scared or worried, as the guidelines are in place to en- sure they will be safe at work.
Workers travelling to work are advised to avoid using public transport where possible. Instead they are encouraged to walk, cycle, or drive. If you do travel, avoid peak periods to allow for more space to stay safe and observe social distancing.
Workers may consider wearing a face covering when using public transport. This is optional and is not required by the law. At the end of your journey, it is recommended that you wash your hands for at least 20 seconds or sanitise your hands as soon as possible.
Mr Suleiman Lawal, a bus driver with Transport for London (TfL), married with three young children had gone off work for three weeks at the peak of coronavirus outbreak for fear of contracting the virus and infecting the family.
Speaking with African Voice, Mr Lawal said, “I have recently returned to work tofind safety measures in place. The driver’s common room at the depot has been transformed to observe social distancing, sanitisers and face masks are provided. When on the road driving the bus l now feel safe, as efforts have been made by TfL to ensure our safety and that of the passengers. Extra protection screen are now added to the clear screen that separates bus drivers from passengers.”
Aston Martin Lagonda: As the South Wales site reopens, safer working guidelines are protecting more than 600 manufacturing employees. Luxury carmaker Aston Martin, employs 3,000 people across eight sites in the Midlands and South Wales.
James Stephens, Director of Government and External Affairs at Aston Martin, discusses the safer working guidelines introduced to protect the employees and ensure they feel confident about returning to work in their South Wales site in St Athan.
“So far, around 600 of our staff have returned to work at the South Wales site, but we expect this to increase as we begin opening our other sites.
“We accessed and continue to use the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for workers we have had to furlough. However, bringing back employees that are able to work, and doing so in the safest waypossible has meant we haven’t had to relyon other schemes.
“Using a cross functional team, we developed our return to work guidelines by following Public Health Executive (PHE) and Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidelines, as well as consulting with our Trade Union.
“The health and safety of our employees always comes first, so using the guidance available we have been able to implement a range of safer working practices that our staff returning to work need to adhere to.”
The key principles Aston Martin has introduced are:
• Controlled entry and exits
• PPE equipment provided, with masks worn at all times
• Sanitiser dispensers available across sites
• Cleaning frequency increased in all areas and across all sites
• Seating areas rearranged to comply to social distancing guidelines
• Meeting rooms closed
• Introduction of staggered start and finish times
• Break times also staggered
• Visuals, daily briefings, and posters to remind employees of social distancing and hand washing
• All but essential travel is not permitted, no visitors, and only agreed contractors on site
Mr Stephenson continued: “Adherence to these safety principles is mandatory to protect our staff, their families and their workmates. Anyone not complying may be asked to leave the site and disciplinary measures applied. “These guidelines introduce consistent measures across all our sites to meet Government recommendations on social distancing.”
The Government has published guidance to support businesses to reopen and for workers to feel confident, safe and empowered to return to work. If you run a business and would like to know which of the coronavirus support schemes you are eligible for, you can use the business support finder tool. It takes just minutes to complete and will help you easily find support for your business.
CHH Conex Limited: A manufacturing and supply firm is using a simple but effective plan to keep staff safe
The Birmingham-based company, which manufactures cable assemblies, integrates electronics into enclosures and supplies engineering components and tooling, has been primarily focused on distributing Personal Protective Equipment for emergency engineers during the pandemic. It has followed government advice and used a mixture of clear communication with staff to maintain a healthy workforce.
Tim Hughes, Managing Director at CHH Conex Limited, said: We are very fortunate to have a fantastic team of 60 at CHH and we place great importance on regular and two-way communication critical at a time like this. We have seen a 50% reduction in our sales since the start of the lockdown so have used the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to furlough some of our workers and our HR Manager is in regular contact with everyone on the scheme to check on their welfare.
We keep the whole team informed about where we are, and what we plan to do as a business, and they have been brilliant as usual, in playing their part, including developing their own ideas. Using a simple but effective approach, we are managing the situation and everyone has remained healthy.
Key principles CHH has introduced are:
- identifying work functions that can be performed offsite and setting up staff to do this fully from home
- vulnerable team members identified and shielded
- social distancing within the building, minimising people’s movement between areas
- hand washing locations around the site, as well as promoting regular hand washing
- offsite and visitor meetings changed to virtual video meetings or phone calls
- daily contact with department heads to assess team welfare, and weekly discussions on workloads and staffing level
- a gradual and carefully thought-out furlough process to best manage staff concerns about their welfare and job protection.
Mr Hughes continued: This approach is working for us and some of the new processes have been so effective that we will adopt them going forward, but we are taking nothing for granted. We keep our plans under review and are continuing to do what we believe are the right things.
The Government has published guidance to support businesses to reopen and for workers to feel confident, safe and empowered to return to work. If you run a business and would like to know which of the coronavirus support schemes you are eligible for, you can use the business support finder tool. It takes just minutes to complete and will help you easily find support for your business.
Fabweld Steel Products: Steel company used safer working measures and Job Retention Scheme to keep operating.
Richard Hilton, managing director at Shropshire-based Fabweld Steel Products (FSP), discusses the steps he has taken to keep their Telford factory safe for those still able to work.
“FSP are market leaders in access covers to underground systems (such as drainage or power cables), as well as other fabricated steel products for the construction industry, specialising in bespoke project work.
“We employ 40 people in our Telford site, but due to a 55% drop in sales and a 75% drop in enquires, we’ve had to furlough 30% of our staff. Thanks to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, we have been able to protect their jobs, to make sure they have a source of income and a job to come back to.
“Where possible, staff are working from home. However, we want those who still need to come into the site to feel confident. We have therefore made major adjustments to operational procedures to ensure safe social distancing, protecting the health and wellbeing of staff.
“Measures we’ve introduced to protect our staff include quadrupling cleaning hours, using split breaks on shifts, changing the office layout, and placing a 2-metre cordon around the desk where our laser operator sits.
“We are continuing to maintain our high customer service standards, through home-based sales and administration teams. However, we have had to reprioritise to make sure the most critical orders, such as contracts for the national grid, take precedence. We have also diversified and are starting to look at different products and markets to see what else we can make within our manufacturing facilities.”
The Government has published guidanceto support businesses to reopen and for workers to feel confident, safe and empowered to return to work.If you run a business and would like to know which of the coronavirus support schemes you are eligible for, you can use the business support finder tool. It takes just minutes to complete and will help you easily find support for your business.
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