COVID-19 POLICY RESPONSE

As with all responsible companies Ancorite’s policy and approach in dealing with the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic has been developed and evolved day-to-day, however we are now confident that we have means and measures in place to ensure services can be maintained for all our clients.

The flexible and cross site nature of Ancorite’s day to day working does mean that we are very well placed as a business to deal with the ongoing situation and react as required to both our employee’s and client’s needs. Ancorite staff have now been provided with the necessary software and equipment to work from home in order to best ensure we’re able to continue to provide technical and commercial assistance over coming weeks and months and for any staff required to work at our premises we have ensured they are Covid secure.

With the easing of lockdown our works have sharply increased as we are working through many projects which were suspended due to Covid-19, we are though well placed to provide adequate and required response to any essential or emergency works client’s may require over coming months.

Ancorite is committed to maintaining all services currently provided to our clients however due to the need for self-isolation and the potential for periods of employee sick leave we would ask all clients to recognise that non-essential works may require additional management and a reasonable notice period as we seek to make best use of available resource and provide a reliable service to all of our customers.

Ancorite are managing our employees and work force as responsibility as possible by offering lateral flow tests and setting out clearly procedures around isolation due to symptoms. We are also keeping a record of all our workforces’ vaccinations in order to provide this information should it be requested by Clients.

In order for Ancorite to carry out our activities safely and to our expected standards we do have items which are essential such as PPE, plant and materials along with adequate transportation resources to deliver and remove materials and waste. These areas are currently affected by Covid-19 as such we would ask that clients give us as much notice as possible of works so we can arrange labour and resources so we can achieve any required start and end dates for works in this challenging period.

Ancorite are continuing to operate our site-based activities as usual in agreement with the clients/contractors, in compliance with government health advice e.g., social distancing guidance and heightened levels of hygiene. Existing protocols established to ensure continuity in the supply of essential materials within our supply chains have been reviewed and we are now focused on devising mitigation plans to ensure that, as far as possible, we can progress on contracts/projects by finding alternative sources of those materials if and when required.

As well as ensuring the security of material supply, Ancorite are conscious of the need to maintain security of labour on our active sites. There have been numerous cases of Covid on sites where we are working and we have managed to complete works along with following all government guidance on isolation periods. We complete a Covid risk assessment for each project and design ways to maintain social distancing and where this is not possible, we will limit the time within 2m to as little as possible and use PPE to protect our workforce and others.

We continue to advise colleagues on symptoms to look out for with daily briefing on preventative measures to minimise the risk of infection. As a precautionary measure, we have cancelled any large-scale meetings within the company for the foreseeable and will be keeping this under review as the situation evolves. Where possible Ancorite are also asking that any required meetings between our staff and client personal make use of digital alternatives including conference calling and Microsoft team meetings.

Ancorite remains open and flexible to any alternative working proposals our clients may see fit to suggest in order to restrict or limit the impact of potential infection both on their own sites and across our organisation – we believe that at times such as this the sharing of good practice is of critical importance.

Ancorite is beginning to look into the possibility of restarting international works and are following guidance on this from the UK Government and of the countries we may be working in. The possibility of working internationally would depend on the nature of works and if it is classed as essential. We are happy to discuss this with any clients and work closely to get works done which are needed.

At this time Ancorite is following all government advice regarding personal isolation and all employees have been fully briefed on quarantine periods and practices as PHE and Government guidance has developed. In keeping with our SHE first approach Ancorite has adopted a specific policy to ensure all staff self-isolating receive full pay in order to ensure there in no financial disincentive to our employees putting the health and safety of themselves and others first.

It is Ancorite’s intention to update and review this policy in line with government guidance. All clients will be kept fully up-to-date as our policy develops. If you require any further information or detail relating to Ancorite’s response, or if you require specific Covid-19 documentation to be completed in order to facilitate Ancorite working, please don’t hesitate get in touch.