At Merryhill, we’re big believers in safety.
Whether that be the way we move around our offices, or how we go about removing asbestos in homes and businesses across our region. Safety is our number 1 priority. Always has been and always will be.
We like to think we’re pretty good at spotting risks and overcoming them. After all, the nature of our business is to meticulously plan all of our projects to ensure everyone involved in our work goes home safe each evening.
That’s the way asbestos removal projects have always been carried out. Planning forms one of the basic fundamental conditions of having an HSE license.
Fast forward to early 2020…
COVID-19 – the single biggest risk the world has had to content with in peacetime.
Remember, we’re good at risk assessments!
Yes we had social distancing, yes we had lockdown, yes we had to change the way we worked, but we managed it.
We managed it, because safety is our number 1 priority.
We had some good fortune along the way…2 of our largest projects during 2020 were carried out during lockdown 1.0. Both were demolition sites so the risk of being in close proximity to other contractors was greatly reduced. We even provided our own welfare units to ensure good segregation.
Once established, our site teams have adapted very well to social distancing protocols and improved hand hygiene through guidance and additional facilities. We are also fortunate to have a large office space to allow social distancing to be easily achieved for back-of-house teams. Our yard is also in a separate building which meant we were able to create ‘bubbles’ of site-based / office personnel with the absolute minimum of personal contact.
Whilst all of the above meant we had a good foundation, the planning and behind the scenes organisation to achieve this was immense.
Assessing even simple things like how people travelled to work and identifying high traffic ‘touchpoints’ within our buildings became almost second nature. Carrying out risk assessments to cope with COVID-19 has been a challenge, but as a business we have adapted well and overcome most of the hurdles thrown our way.
Lockdown (1.0) Ends
As the restrictions were gradually lifted in June and July, another challenge had to be overcome.
Working in peoples’ homes.
Throughout lockdown 1.0, all of our local authority contracts were paused. As the economy began to reopen, all we had learned up until that point had to be refined even further. Keeping our own people safe was one hurdle, but reassuring tenants / homeowners and keeping them safe was another.
We worked closely with clients to ensure they were happy with our procedures before entering peoples’ homes once again. One of our clients, a local authority were very grateful for the way in which we conducted ourselves and have continued ever since.
David Ballan, Business Manager at Merryhill commented: “as a family-run business, our aim is to conduct our work in a way that minimises any kind of risk. COVID-19 is no different to this and was treated like any other risk that needed to be overcome. Simple protocols such as calling tenants beforehand to ensure they’re well and have no symptoms before we arrive have been one very effective method. This simple call has been an opportunity to speak to tenants in advance and put their minds at ease about how our teams will work in their home. Tenants have been very supportive too and receptive to finding out how we’ll be working. Communication is key to mitigating risks, no matter how large or seemingly trivial. I believe we have done everything possible to keep everyone safe and will continue in this manner.”
What we have learned
We have learned a lot during the pandemic so far and will no-doubt continue to learn as (hopefully) restrictions are lifted once more over the coming months.
- Communication is key – talking to our people and clients has been the backbone of our ability to keep going throughout 2020
- Risk assessments / planning – yes conducting a thorough risk assessment is difficult, but is well worth the effort. Luckily we have the experience to carry out this process more easily than some businesses.
- A focus on safety – when this is your number 1 priority, protecting people becomes second nature
The future
If you require any asbestos to be removed and are worried about COVID-19, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our experts. Our friendly team are now well versed with overcoming the challenges posed and hopefully able to put your own mind at ease.
