Supporting industries who can't work from home
25/11/2020 Emission Solutions Ltd (EMSOL)
By Freddie Talberg, Founder and CEO, WorkSafe and EMSOL
While the announcement of a vaccination for COVID-19 is the light at the end of the tunnel we’ve all been waiting for, the government has been clear that in the next six months or so restrictions will continue and people must socially distance to keep safe.
Keeping safe isn’t straightforward for everyone though. Workers in the manufacturing, processing and construction industries cannot work from home and instead work in densely populated areas. These industries have been forgotten about. While construction sites and manufacturing plants have been allowed to stay open, little thought has been given to how they can operate safely.
It’s clear that some industries are facing greater pressures than others during COVID. Those in processing, construction and manufacturing not only face the financial pressure of a looming recession, but also the very real fear of onsite COVID outbreaks. In June, Asda shut down its meat processing site in Kirklees following an outbreak and as did poultry processing company 2 Sisters in Anglesey after 58 positive cases of COVID were confirmed at their site. The two challenges in tandem could spell disaster for these industries, as workers are often operating in very close proximity to one another.
Over the last eight months, factories and construction sites have suffered exponentially. According to a UK Powerhouse Report, the manufacturing industry is the hardest hit industry in the UK. Business leaders have had to move quickly to retrospectively shut down sites which has had a damaging effect on the sector.
The economic value of processing, construction and manufacturing sectors is more important than one might expect. Collectively, they make up 26.5% of the UK economy and manufacturing alone accounts for 47% of British exports. Yet government has largely forgotten about the unique requirements that are needed to ringfence these sectors from further outbreaks and the devastating effects this will have on their productivity.
Covid-19 has ushered in a whole host of challenges to the sector. British manufacturing has been struggling to keep up with global competition before the pandemic hit and this has only clouded uncertainty further. With 12.9 million workers employed in manufacturing and construction alone, we must learn how to preserve these sectors or further risk these jobs.
Hopes of a vaccine are exciting, but there is a more immediate necessity to protect these businesses before the whole population is inoculated. The most effective way to do this is a preventative approach to ensure that workers are safely social distancing, rather than reactive shutdowns. Retrospectively shutting down a worksite after an infection has broken out might be effective from a healthcare perspective, but it is hugely damaging to those businesses who can lose tens of thousands of pounds every day and could potentially go under.
While the NHS track and trace app has enabled individuals to find out if they have been in contact with an infected individual, for a business, this is already too late. If workers can be kept physically distanced using a preventative system that tells them that they are already too close or breaching social distancing, it will not only reduce the chance of infection and protect workers health but also will go some way to keeping worksites open and re-invigorating productivity.
The NHS track and trace app also relies on mobile location tracking for it to work. This system is effectively defunct for industries like manufacturing and construction, where mobiles are often not permitted on site, and the deployment of a safe system that can be worn on the person is necessary.
Current measures such as PPE use and proper signage are welcome but rely on an honour system, from both employee and employer. To track and trace workers in real time is not only essential from a healthcare perspective, but also in order to protect the jobs and the future of the wider UK economy. We have a real opportunity to elevate the nation’s economy by propping up these industries with a practical system to keep everyone safe.
The contribution of these sectors to the economy is clear, and while we have a vaccine, we are still approaching a huge economic downturn where successful British business will need to supported and celebrated. Brexit is coming which will also further complicate the landscape for business and put pressure on the UK economy.
We urge the government to consider better options to keep workers safe, support these industries before it is too late, and before it is too late to save the UK economy.
Print this articleFor more information, please contact:
Freddie Talberg
Emission Solutions Ltd (EMSOL)
Sustainable Workspaces
25 Lavington Street
London
SEI 0NZ
Tel: 0203 982 9440
Email: sales@emsol.io
Web: https://emsol.io/
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