Safety First – WL Prepares for Life Post Covid-19

The past few months have seen the whole of the UK trapped underneath a cloud of uncertainty. Even now, as a company who works largely in events and theatre, we are still very unsure of what the future holds and when we’ll be able to return to some form of normality. One thing we are certain of though is that the world will be a very different place once we are through the other side of all this; one in which Health and Safety, as always, will play a prominent role. As a company, we have always been advocates for safe practices and, as such, have spent the last few weeks putting several measures in place to ensure both our methods and facilities are completely safe for our staff, clients and visitors.

 

 

 

 

 

The safety measures put in place have been overseen by WL’s Health and Safety Director Chris Nicholls, who comments: “For us, the wellbeing of those visiting either our offices or warehouse space is a huge priority. We have used the Government Guidelines as a minimum requirement and are constantly monitoring information in order to respond immediately to changes in guidance, advice or legal requirements. Whilst we are all very keen to get back to work, we know we can only do this when we are completely confident that it is safe to do so”.

 

 

 

 

 

WL’s response to ensuring the safety of its employees and customers has been structured around a series of newly-founded principles, core values and a management programme. Chris explains: “We’ve put in place a range of principles which will ensure the safety of all those working at WL and these will be immediately implemented for the foreseeable future. Whilst it does mean a big change to the way we work, we are refusing to take any risks and are ensuring we do everything we can to protect our staff’s health, safety and wellbeing. We’ve also ensured that we’ve been completely transparent throughout the whole process, addressing any concerns staff may have and addressing these in our plans”. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A lot of WL’s preparation to ensure a safe workplace is by making physical changes to the company’s Wimbledon base. These include:

 

 

 

 

 

·      Implementing social distancing measures and signage all throughout our SW19 offices and warehouse.
·      Implementing one way systems through potentially busy areas.
·      Designating most stairwells as either as up or down use only.
·      Implementing give way rules at pinch points and any two way areas.
·      Installing sanitiser dispensers at all entrances and ensuring that everybody washes or sanitises on arrival and before starting work.
·      Designated out of use and in use desks and workspaces in order to maintain social distancing.
·      Designated spaces in staff eating areas in order to maintain social distancing.
·      Ensuring that all meeting rooms are marked with maximum occupancy.
·      Producing a Return To Work survey for all of our staff to ensure any concerns/enquiries are met and addressed prior to their return.
·      The next step is to create a staff booklet in order to prepare those returning to work.
·      Delivering a socially distanced IOSH Working Safely course by Chris Nicholls. More of these will be delivered during the next two months in order to enable people to get ECS cards for construction site access.

 

 

 

 

 

Chris concludes: “As always, we’re putting our staff, customers and visitors safety first here at WL; albeit in circumstances none of us were expecting. We now find ourselves living in a world where nothing can be taken for granted and must plan as we move forward and hopefully begin to start working again. All of our staff have taken on board the new procedures and working methods with great enthusiasm and we are now confident that, as we move into this new world, we are doing so as safely as possible”.

 

 

 

The post Safety First – WL Prepares for Life Post Covid-19 appeared first on White Light.

 

 

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