Reflecting on Coronavirus: How we’ll keep working safely

It would have been very difficult to consciously prepare for working through a pandemic at PMC, but it turns out the processes and systems we’ve put in place over the last 3 years have given our team a strong foundation during this tough time.

As lockdown eases at different stages around the country, we’ve been reflecting on the challenges of the past few months, how it’s changed the way we work at PMC, and what we’ll be doing more of going forward.

How we worked safely during lockdown

Like a lot of businesses, we’ve followed the government guidelines closely. This meant buying extra vehicles so our teams could travel to sites separately, briefing everyone on good hand hygiene, providing hand sanitiser, gloves, and masks, and minimising the amount of contact we had with people, surfaces, and door handles at the sites we visited. With a bit of adjustment and the right PPE we found we could work efficiently and safely quite easily.

There was an initial concern in our industry that clients wouldn’t be able to have works carried out on their sites. However, this was not the case and existing clients were prioritising essential works to maintain sites and keep stores open. New clients came on board as they needed work completed quickly with smaller contractors struggling to keep trading safely.

Keeping essential businesses open

Our essential retail and food clients in particular were under a lot of pressure to keep going through the Coronavirus crisis. We worked with two essential businesses at the height of lockdown – Iceland supermarkets and Day Lewis Pharmacy – putting social distancing measures in place for their customers and staff and keeping the doors open no matter what.

Looking after our team

As well as working efficiently for our clients, keeping our team safe and motivated during uncertain times was a major priority. Like a lot of businesses, we’ve adapted to working remotely quickly and efficiently.

PMC office staff are the hub of all activity – booking jobs and taking calls from clients at all hours. They’ve been working from home and we’re planning to keep a fluid office structure in place for a while. It’s working well for our clients, our team is just as productive and connected, and it helps to keep them safe.

We all miss our team lunches but hopefully we’ll be able to enjoy those again soon.

The safety measures we’ll keep following

It’s very clear that Covid-19 isn’t over for any of us yet. We’ll be following the same safety measures we’ve become well-practised at during lockdown for as long as we need to.

• Travelling to sites in separate vehicles and minimising contact with people while we’re there.
• Working from home instead of the office as much as we can.
• Social distancing at all times.
• Wearing PPE.
• Washing our hands regularly and using hand sanitiser while out and about.
• Meeting on Zoom.