Are you ready for when the lockdown restrictions are eased and your buildings need to be brought back into use? Thomson FM team provide “Building Re-occupancy Strategic Support” service in readiness for post-lockdown returns to work.

As the number of cases of COVID-19 deaths in UK hospitals thankfully appear to have reached their current peak, the Government are coming under increasing pressure to start easing their restrictions on workplaces, so that businesses can start the process of returning to ‘normal’ operation.

However, how prepared are you in making sure your workplaces are safe and ready to allow your employees back?

The Thomson FM strategic re-occupancy support includes supporting our clients in five key areas:

Re-commissioning your equipment: 

It is important that a detailed, systematic and prioritised re-commissioning of the mechanical and electrical equipment is undertaken. The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a wide range of approaches to how buildings have been occupied, part occupied or unoccupied. Unless systems are risk assessed and brought back on line correctly there is a risk to life of the equipment. There is also the risk of adversely affecting the health of the building occupants, further unplanned downtime, increased expenditure and a negative client/customer experience at a time when people are expecting business as usual to resume

Ensuring your building is legally compliant:

Despite the lockdown the HSE have not relaxed their approach where statutory maintenance and inspections are concerned. Prior to any building returning to normal use, a minimum requirement is to check and ensure the building is statutorily compliant and that all the necessary maintenance activities have been undertaken. Our consultants will undertake compliance audits, which will identify any compliance areas requiring immediate attention

Highlighting your potential risks:

Are you confident your business will be ready to open for business as usual at a moment’s notice if and when restrictions are lifted? It is critical that businesses allow enough time to determine the condition of their buildings and equipment before they re-open. With early engagement from Thomson FM we can identify the key risk areas that may have arisen as a result of partial/full closures to buildings and the resulting impacts on your mechanical and electrical services. We have a great deal of experience across all FM business sectors and can help you identify and manage the pitfalls of returning to a building and its contents efficiently and effectively

Minimising your infection risk:

With no current guarantee of a COVID-19 vaccine in the immediate future, there is a pressing need to review and potentially re-design the workplace. As a business have you risk assessed how the mechanical and electrical systems you own/maintain will impact on the potential spread of Covid-19 and other viruses, particularly water systems and ventilation?  Are you confident that social distancing can be maintained? For example, one of the requirements predicted by some, of partially coming out of lockdown will be the need for all interactions with colleagues to adhere to the two metre social distancing rule at all times, an increased need for ‘hot-desking’ and radically different cleaning regimes. Our consultants can assist in ensuring that infection risk is minimised within the workplace and the latest Government guidelines are met

Prioritising your future maintenance strategy:

Any future maintenance strategy needs to be flexible and be able to adapt to the changing demand/footfall within the buildings, as some form of normality returns, although what ‘normality’ will look like is still unclear. Such a strategy will also need to build into it the possibility of another such pandemic occurring in the future and having robust and evolving contingency plans in place. Our consultants can help client develop bespoke maintenance strategies and business continuity plans,  which reflect current lessons learnt, building usage, as well as asset criticality and condition

It is crucial that organisations start your planning now for how their workplaces will be brought back into usage in a safe and efficient manner and with the required level of contractor resources needed, given the predicted large shift in demand/supply of such FM resources over the coming weeks and months.

Our team of consultants can provide the level of technical expertise required.

Please contact Mark Whittaker at Thomson FM on mark.whittaker@thomsonfm.co.uk and 07990017032 to discuss your requirements further.