Asbestech, like many other businesses, recognises the difficulties that a significant increase in the cases of Covid-19 may cause to the company and to the construction industry in general. Whilst our sector is not one that has an elevated risk associated with our activities, we do recognise that it presents questions that we need to face. We have considered all aspects of our business and have identified the following key areas:
Personnel
We have provided our teams with the latest advice from the NHS and will continue to do so. We are keen to promote good personal hygiene and have told all staff that washing hands is still reported as the most successful safeguard. We have notices in our office rest areas and kitchens and continue to promote the message to the field teams. It should be noted that a large part of our team are donning full-face respirators for most of the working day and showering thoroughly at the end of each shift, which will of course help to keep them safe.
All staff have also been apprised of the advice to self-isolate should they get any symptoms and to inform us immediately. We have records of where each member of our team is each working day and who they were with. Should there be any cases then we will advise those others that they may have been in contact with.
We have enough staff to cope with a reasonable reduction in number and have good relationships with accredited and approved temporary worker suppliers should the staffing numbers drop too far. Any temporary worker will only be put with existing teams on non-critical client sites and will be subject to the same rules and expectations as our existing workforce.
Travel
Our team members travel throughout the UK in order to meet with clients, to scope and price work, to conduct risk assessments and of course to undertake removal and remediation work itself. Although a large part of this travel is unavoidable, for general client meetings we will talk with our clients to ascertain the feasibility of conducting these via video or conference calls to avoid unnecessary travel.
Supply Chain
Materials suppliers, particularly of consumables, report that some items come from Covid-19 affected regions such as China for example. While we currently have adequate stocks of consumable items in our central stores there is no current information on how much supply chains may be affected or for how long. To mitigate this risk, we have reviewed our policies and practices on site to encourage more re-use of consumables such as overalls, whilst respecting the needs of following best practice and not elevating the risks for any of our team members.
Please note that the Statement above is subject to change should Government advice dictate.
Daniel Chalkley
Managing Director