Business as Usual – COVID-19 Statement from Heightsafe Systems
Click HERE to download Heightsafe’s COVID-19 statement
Click HERE to download Heightsafe’s COVID-19 staff policy
Update as of Monday 19th July 2021
Our priority first and foremost remains the health and well-being of our customers and staff members, and we continue to monitor the situation closely. Heightsafe Systems recognise the impact COVID-19 has had on businesses, and our aim is to continue providing uninterrupted service to our clients across the UK. With the new guidelines released today, we have updated our COVID-19 policy accordingly.
Heightsafe Systems would firstly like to thank all our customers for their support over the past 12+ months, it has not been easy to navigate through the pandemic, but we have done so in accordance with Government and WHO advice, whilst minimising disruption for our clients and partners.
The actions we have taken are noted below in our previous statement. In line with the most recent Government advice, Heightsafe Systems will continue to take precautions against the spread of COVID-19 and all subsequent variants of the virus. Although restrictions surrounding social distancing have been relaxed by the Government as of 19/07/2021, Heightsafe Systems will continue to monitor the situation closely and update our advice to employees and contractors to prevent the spread of the virus, including but not limited to; encouraging testing when presenting symptoms, continuing to isolate if in receipt of a positive test, and generally continuing to keep an open line of communication within our workforce.
Tuesday 19th May 2020
Our key aim is to continue providing uninterrupted service to our clients. After the latest government advice, we have updated our policy accordingly.
Heightsafe Systems is mindful that COVID-19 is a continuously evolving situation and our response will evolve accordingly. These measures are being constantly re-evaluated by our team, and we are confident that we will be able to minimize the risks associated with the pandemic without negative impacts or disruptions for our customers.
As an industry leader in the promotion of safety at height, Heightsafe Systems’ top priority remains the health and wellbeing of our customers and staff members. Heightsafe Systems recognises that the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus has major implications for public health, public services and businesses generally. Heightsafe Systems is continually monitoring the evolving situation and taking precautions to minimise the potential risk of coronavirus on business, taking careful account of current and developing Government and World Health Organisation advice.
At Heightsafe Systems we are committed to maintaining strong processes and controls to minimise the risk of a significant disruption to business operations related to COVID-19. Our continuity plan includes ensuring the safety and wellness of our staff, maintaining a consistent supply of essential inventory, and consistent communication with our customers. We want to assure our customers, partners, supply chain and local communities that we have put in place measures to minimise disruption. Below are some specific actions that we have taken:
Operational Status
- Presently we are running with a full team of site operatives, who are continuing to complete jobs across the UK and reacting to works required on key sites, hospitals, nursing homes, hotels that have made their rooms available for our NHS workers.
Formation of a dedicated COVID-19 risk management group
Heightsafe Systems has assigned key Safety, and Operational personnel to coordinate and manage operational risk associated with the current outbreak.
Robust awareness campaign
Heightsafe Systems has been regularly updating its employees, contractors and suppliers regarding the latest government advice on protection against COVID-19 and the prevention of the spread of the virus by way of:
- Regular updates to employees on the evolving situation in relation to the latest government and NHS advice regarding COVID-19;
- All employees have been briefed on the latest advice to social distance and to stay at home where possible;
- Advice posters on how to prevent the spread of COVID-19 via appropriate handwashing have been distributed to all food preparation, hand washing, and entranceway locations;
- Daily updates to satellite workers.
Procurement of hygiene and health and safety commodities
- Increased facilities for employee handwashing to ensure cleanliness and minimize infection spread, including the pre-emptive ordering of appropriate anti-bacterial sanitary products.
- Additional hand sanitizing gel and tissues for distribution across site-operative teams have been provided.
- Additional PPE for risk-assessed activities, including disposable wipes and gloves have been provided to site-operative teams.
Workforce COVID-19 Exposure Protection
- All members of our team who can work from home, have been given the facilities and support to do so.
- Strict social distancing protocols have been introduced across the workforce.
- All meetings are now being held by telephone or video conferencing facilities.
- Site Operatives have been informed of COVID-19 symptoms and testing methods, and explicitly told to not attend site if symptoms are evident.
- Site Operatives will continue to perform a dynamic risk assessment upon arrival.
- Site Operatives have been issued with additional PPE to protect themselves, including FFP3 valve face masks
- We are continually managing and minimising the overall risks associated with spreading the virus through our workforce and supply chain to ultimately prevent disruption to our service delivery.
Business Continuity Planning
A robust approach to risk management and operational continuity is already an established aspect of Heightsafe Systems’ business planning to prepare us for unexpected or exceptional events through our business continuity plans.
- Existing plans contain mitigation actions to respond to a variety of scenarios, which have been reviewed on a regular basis.
- We are working with our supply chain regarding their business continuity arrangements in response to COVID-19, and any issues that may impact their operations, sharing with them the awareness guidance that has been circulated to our employees.
- We continually monitor our supply chain for issues that may impact operations, and work closely with suppliers to assess and minimize any potential effects. We are implementing the following steps to ensure supply consistency to minimize the risk of disruptions or delays:
- Maintain inventories of essential commodities to protect against disruptions.
- Proactively communicate and collaborate with our suppliers to ensure essential commodities are available and shortages are minimized.
- We have reviewed our existing IT infrastructure to ensure its resilience to enable, if necessary and where possible, employees to work from home.
- We have tested our IT Disaster Recovery Plan to demonstrate the resilience of our systems.
We are continuing with our works in line with the latest government guidelines, at this present time. However we are evaluating the situation daily, and are continuing to ask parties to notify us if any signs, symptoms or confirmed cases they may have themselves or may have been privy to via others. By keeping an open line of communication between ourselves and our workforce, we aim to try and minimise the risk and spreading of the virus through our workforce and the greater public we meet. Heightsafe Systems requests that all employees consider the following, and notify us of any signs or symptoms of the virus as soon as possible:
- Self-isolate during the early stages of the virus to limit exposure to others.
- Communicate and work from home, including rescheduling work activities where possible to do so.
- Advise Heightsafe Systems of any travel plans for themselves or their families so we can monitor the possible risks.
- Follow social distancing guideline’s
- Utilise the remaining unaffected team members of the workforce.
Please know we value our partnership with all our customers and are committed to working through this challenge as seamlessly as possible. It is our commitment to provide our customers with an industry-leading level of quality and support.
This statement will be reviewed regularly and updated as necessary. It has been approved and authorised by:
| Jason Tucker
Managing Director
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