NWH Coronavirus Business Contingency Planning

Statement

The NWH Group is continuously monitoring the current Coronavirus situation as it develops particularly with the Health and Safety of our employees, visitors and customers in mind.  We are following guidance from World Health Organisation (WHO), UK Government communications and the NHS.

All our business partners need to be aware that NWH Group has implemented a number of measures to ensure that we can continue to provide the products and service required by our customers whilst protecting everyone both internally and externally.

Communications 

NWH are issuing daily communications reacting as the situation changes regarding recommended guidelines and actions.  Our aim is to ensure that we do everything ‘reasonably practical’ as per the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 to safeguard our employees, visitors and those affected by our operations and service delivery.

• Internally, this is achieved with poster visuals, emails and internal social media channels. 
• Externally, we are updating our customers of any necessary changes by email and on our website as we continually monitor the situation.  

This plan will be reviewed and reissued as and when our position or UK Government guidance changes.

Contingency Planning Operations 

Our business continuity plans enable us to work as follows – 

Hygiene - We are providing everyone with access to all the recommended sanitation facilities including soap and hot water, tissues, disposal bins and sanitisers. 

Our cleaning team already use anti-bacterial cleaners and are provided with the relevant PPE to enable thorough daily cleaning and disinfecting of all areas.  The cleaning regime has also been increased with additional cleaning of highly sensitive areas e.g. kitchens, toilets, handles, etc 

Office workers– laptops and phonelines can be transferred to work from home and still facilitate a full customer service. Presently we are working with a minimum of 50% of each office-based worker at home.  This will ensure continuity of service should one team be confirmed with the virus. 

Workshop – staff in this area are now operating a rota shift system, with an hours break between shifts to ensure social distancing, therefore if one shift is confirmed with Coronavirus, we will always have a minimum of one team available to continue with service. 

Drivers– as they are remote mobile workers, we believe that their place of work allows for them to continue without disruption to service. They are all provided with full PPE to assist with the control of any spread of disease, this includes protective gloves, wipes, etc

Tipping Facilities– as we have 8 depots across Scotland and the North of England, the closure of any site due to an outbreak would not stop our ability to service and accept waste as this would be diverted to an alternative tipping facility. All Operative site staff are fully equipped with PPE and facilities to ensure the highest levels of hygiene. 

Additional Actions:

• We are in regular contact with key suppliers, including our external IT business partner who ensures our ongoing systems are protected and secure.  

• We require any employee that returns from a high-risk country, has been in contact with anyone suspected of having the virus, or is unwell, to work from home for a 14 day precautionary exclusion period before coming back to the office. 

• We are discouraging face-to-face meetings with both internal and external visitors and making the best use of technology alternatives. 

• We have shared best practice health tips with our team and continue to keep them updated on a daily basis

• We have placed additional hand sanitising stations at various points in our offices

• We will continue to maintain open lines of communication with you our valued customers and business partners

• Throughout this time, we’ll be 100% focused on doing everything we can to support all our customers and ensure continuity of service, day and night.

The above plans will allow us to remain operative, provide peace of mind and ensure we can continue with our regular services to all our customers and business partners.