How UAP is dealing with the Coronavirus outbreak

COVID-19 is a “novel coronavirus” that originated in Wuhan, China. Many of those infected by the illness were residents of Wuhan and Hubei, but it is now spreading across the world to the UK.
Those who fall ill tend to develop a fever, coughs and breathing difficulties and pneumonia can develop after the initial illness, although most cases are mild. The current figures as of the 5th of March are approximately 95,000 infections with over 50,000 recoveries and over 3,000 deaths.

UAP are taking the novel Coronavirus very seriously and have been putting preventative measures in place to avoid its spread within the company for the last couple of months. A few weeks previously, alcohol-based hand sanitisers were installed on-site for staff to use. As things have progressed, staff are being encouraged to use them frequently as well as washing their hands regularly for 20 seconds, following the government’s Department of Health recommendations.

From the end of February, non-employees of UAP have been restricted from entering the site in order to reduce the amount of contact we have with members of the public whose travel history is unknown. No external delivery drivers are allowed on site and packages are sprayed down with disinfectant. Meetings held with non-employees or external staff will be done via a video conference.

Staff are asked to report to a member of the board of Directors if they know they have a family member or friend they have been in contact with who has recently travelled from an infected zone, or if they suspect they may have come in contact with COVID-19 in some way.

A ban has been placed on staff using all public transport including taxis on behalf of UAP; this doesn’t include commuting but it means that staff cannot travel via trains, trams and taxis etc. within working hours or to complete a work task.

Starting on the 2nd of March, staff are being routinely checked with temperature gauges in the morning before they enter the premises and after lunchtime. Staff with temperatures over 38 degrees will be sent home in case of a fever.

Our local lunch supplier has been visited by staff to ensure that they have an adequate level of hygiene, and we found that their approach to sanitisation is more than satisfactory. Staff are also discouraged from visiting local shops in their lunch times to prevent them from potentially picking up bacteria and bringing it back into the workplace.

The most recent development is the trial of home-working. Staff with office-based roles are encouraged to start working from home to reduce the amount of people on the premises – we know that less people in one place means less exposure, especially as some of our staff are more at-risk in using public transport to come to work.

Our marketing team have produced informational leaflets and posters about the virus to keep our staff informed with the important knowledge they need to know to protect themselves. We now have posters placed around the premises to remind staff to wash their hands frequently and thoroughly, following the governments guidelines.

We are taking every measure we can to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on our business and employees – initiative and pro-activity is much more effective than reactivity. We hope that in the coming months, the disease will be under control and it’ll be back to business as usual again, but in the meantime we’re taking the issue very seriously and putting these measures in place.