PPE by O’Neills - “the choice of champions”
Since lockdown began, I’ve pretty much worked from home. I’ve even set myself up with a new office, including sit/stand desk, screen and keyboard, as there are now two of us working from home. Zoom and MS Teams have been my friends.
So, a couple of weeks ago was actually the first day I was working as “normal”. Or the old normal. I was off to Strabane, a beautiful part of the world where I hadn’t spent much time until earlier this year.
And it really is a lovely place, with fantastic people, easy access to the stunning views from Robber’s Table on Ballynatubrit Mountain to the High Sperrin’s, Mellon Country, close to Derry City, the beaches of Donegal...I could go on.
The best thing about it, though, is what is happening for healthcare providers right now. O’Neills, the largest producer of sports clothing on this island, saw its demand tumble for its normal product range with Coronavirus, and together with the new Coronavirus Regulations was forced to furlough nearly all 750 staff at one point. They are now, thanks to a collective team effort, producing PPE in the form of surgical gowns, and also scrubs for healthcare settings. These are being made in increasing volumes, and some 200 workers are now back, with this number growing all the time.
Coronavirus is a new issue for O’Neills (and all organizations in the world) to deal with, and as an employer, the top management needed to ensure that they kept their workforce and others safe. In the world of COVID-19, this means that to produce their product (in this case PPE) safely, they needed to ensure that they took all necessary steps towards social distancing in the workplace.
I am very happy, and very proud, to have helped to contribute towards this.
Working with the top team in O’Neills I guided them through the ever-changing Governmental guidance in this area, and collectively we completed a COVID-19 Risk Assessment and generated a detailed and comprehensive plan to reduce the level of risk. I am continuing to help them work through the actions on the plan.
The planned actions from this that have been defined relate to a number of areas including: improving cleaning in high use areas; improved social distancing measures; face covering guidance; necessary communications and ease of communications; handwashing training and guidance; visitor and contractor processes; new signage and floor markings; meetings guidance; thermal screening processes; limiting entry points; amending flow of personnel etc.
I have also provided advice and assistance in what would be needed to comply with PPE Regulations, helping the leadership better understand potential options for future developments.
O’Neills continues to contribute in the most effective way they can at this time, their onsite workforce continues to work as safely and as quickly as possible, and this is getting safer as we speak, and ultimately their output is helping to save lives.
#StayHome #KeepDistance #SaveLives
O'Neills - The Choice of Champions [This link takes you to an external website]
