Alchemy Metals, members of Made in the Midlands, are a scrap metal merchant with over 50 years of experience, but like every other corner of Britain, they’ve been impacted by the outbreak of Coronavirus. Speaking to Adam Kirby, their Health, Safety and Environment manager, he shares some of the companies Best Practice tips to members across the region.
With many workers returning to work, Adam’s responsibilities are now more important than ever. Not only does his job entail making the workplace safe to return to for the staff and visitors of Alchemy, but also to the mental wellbeing of those who have been furloughed or who are working at home.
Before we started our conversation, Adam reflected on the recent government announcement saying, “The new guidance that came out on Monday into Tuesday, basically added layers of complexity to our social distancing measures. For us, it's not been a massive transition, it was kind of what we were doing anyway.”
Reflecting on what steps Alchemy Metals had been taking, he said “We've been preparing for a little while. To be honest, we saw this crisis starting to loom in January and so we started up discussions around the topic back then, before the lockdown. We acted very early on before any guidance was issued by the government, so we had things like hand-washing and temperature checks in from an early point.”
Reflecting on the current mood within the business, Adam said, “At the moment I think there's going to be quite a high level of anxiety amongst people. I know some parents saying I don't want to send my children back to school no matter what social distancing measures there are, which obviously could impact their ability to return to work. Actually, there’s a lot of ifs and buts and it's not as simple as saying go back to work if you can because there are a number of issues to consider, things like children, grandparents, or you name it.”
With the government, unions and teachers at odds about the start date of the new school term, this stress could easily be transferred into parents, some who may want to, but are unable to return to work. But to alleviate this stress, Adam did support the extension of the government’s furlough scheme, seeing it as a viable way to support those staff who can’t return to work.
“The extension of the furlough scheme is allowing businesses to actually give that option to their staff to say where you can come into work, please come into work. Now they have the option to stay at home if there are needs for themselves or those around them.”
Communication is the key…
“If you read what the CEOs put out to align those fears, when employees are having to return to work, possibly this week, they will have to address the apprehensions that all of the staff who have been furloughed or who have been away from work. It will especially have to address that they possibly could be about to have a lot more contact with people than they normally would during lockdown at home.” That’s the view of Adam when addressing the issue of employees transitioning back to what some may consider a ‘normal’ or ‘traditional’ way of working.
Yet the mental health of staff is something not be overlooked in this situation, and what became clear in our conversation with Adam was that for staff in a management position, the power of communication with the workforce can’t be underestimated enough.
Speaking about the impact on those who have been furloughed, and to an extent even those who have been moved to working from home, there are health and safety issues that could arise. “There could be some quite severe anxiety issues arising, but actually having a voice can be quite profound. You should be thinking, I've got these people working from home, and these people on furlough. I called them today and if you want to make a note of an issue or an action to resolve part of that, that's a quantity of control measures.
So even consider as part of your work looking at who is on furlough or working at home, because they could be actually having quite a rough time during this. So, extending a hand, extending some effort and guidance to them as well. Something as simple as a phone call just to say, how are you doing? Because they are possibly having mental health issues at home.”
Continuing, Adam talked about the importance of communication in alleviating some of the fears that staff may have about returning to work. He said, “Do not underestimate communication with the workforce. Perhaps a check-up for their mental health, but also making sure staff are kept in the loop with updates. If you're coming back to work, let's do an email, inform the staff of the steps that have been taken to make sure the place is healthy and safe for them.”
What was clear from Adam was that, depending on the size of your workforce, you’re going to have a lot of staff worrying about their health. But in reality, there are easy, and practical steps to minimize this risk, as has been seen with Alchemy Metals, and the action they’ve taken to alleviate them. “You're almost going to have a culture of fear probably within your workforce. If you can give them a forum to communicate with you and then you communicate with them and reassure them that we are taking certain actions, that's really the first step. At Alchemy we made the promise in those briefings that within 24 hours we would have hand-washing facilities on the exterior of the building, so before you actually even come to the site or gain entry to reception, we make you wash your hands.
We also gave each one of our drivers a bottle to sanitize their cab before the start of their shift, and at the end of their shift. In general, we just upped the game, we put hand sanitizer everywhere that was needed. You'll never probably be more than five, 10 meters away from even a sink or a hand sanitizer.”
Don’t expect to get it right on the first time…
Another key piece of advice was Adam was don’t expect to get it right the first time. As he explained, the key to success in health and safety is building on continued improvement and continually reflecting on what, especially in relation to Coronavirus, is a changing environment.
“It's not easy, it will be a struggle. Let's be honest, your business is likely facing downtime, and as a result, you have got people's lives on the line effectively. Not everyone is going to get it right the first time, but as long as you consider that risk assessment, you have shown that you have tried as best you can. But there will always be teething problems.
Every time you add a layer or a preventive measure to your systems of what you're doing, it can only make things better.”
But for Adam, the key here is not to solely rely on those, like himself, who have been assigned the role of health and safety, instead to not only succeed but to thrive in this environment you must rely on the entire team within your business. “If you've got one person that has decided all the actions regarding Coronavirus prevention in your workplace, it's not going to work. Whereas if you talk to a group of people who will have different opinions, the ideas will reflect the intelligence of the workforce. It might be the receptionist that actually comes up with a positive idea for the company.”