SynX Blog

 

Since the lockdown, the spread of COVID-19 has led to changes in protocols in every activity, with the aim of minimising the impact of the illness and avoiding its spread. Now companies are gradually going back to their activity and will need support in preparing their business to be up and running again in a COVID-19 world. This is why the Health and Safety Authority of Ireland has created a series of resources based on the Government’s Return to Work Safely Protocol. 

 

The resources created by the HSA and available on their website consider COVID-19 from different perspectives. What is usually necessary in order to prevent risk is to get an adequate preparation, to share knowledge across the company, to establish roles in the prevention of risks and to have procedures in case of  contact with the risk.

• A return to work form - to be answered by the employees about to resume work;
• A response plan - establishing worker representatives taking responsibilities for the implementation of security measures and regular checks;
• A serie of checklists for the employer - that aim at controlling the preparation of the company, the induction process that should include anti COVID-19 measures, the improved cleaning and disinfection measures and the eventuality of dealing with a case of COVID-19;
• An employee checklist - with a training purpose;
• A worker representative checklist - to help worker representatives understand their roles.

If you wish further help in getting your business relying on driving COVID-19 free you can download our driver checklist or contact us.

Driving is a risky activity and companies that rely on driving, operate vehicles and manage drivers should be very familiar with fleet risk assessment and carry out assessments on a regular basis. Fleet risk assessment ensures that fleets do comply with legislation and, while meeting their duty of care obligations, that they ensure drivers are able to protect themselves and other road users from risks.

COVID-19 has had an important impact on fleets and drivers so far and will continue to have an impact even if the lockdown measures are gradually going to be eased. Therefore, fleet risk assessment, which consists in identifying what can harm people in the workplace, who might be harmed and how, in evaluating the risks and deciding on the appropriate controls, taking into account those already in place, in recording the risk assessment and in reviewing and updating the assessment, will necessarily have to be reviewed because of COVID-19.

In Ireland, in order to help both companies that are resuming work and those who have continued working during the lockdown, the Health and Safety Authority (HSA), together with the Health Services Executive (HSE) and the Department of Health and the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation have issued The Return to Work Safely Protocol, that can be found on the Gov.ie website.

In the UK, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial strategy has released guidance for people who work in or from vehicles, including couriers, mobile workers, lorry drivers, on-site transit and work vehicles, field forces and similar. The COVID-19 guide for those who work with vehicles can be found on the Gov.uk website.

If you need further guidance on how to work with vehicles while protecting employees and users from COVID-19, contact us.

The COVID-19 pandemic is obviously impacting on drivers and companies that rely on driving and different organisations have launched initiatives to help operators going through this difficult time throughout UK and Ireland.

Starting from the UK, FTA has recently launched a COVID-19 advice hub that is focusing on supporting the logistics and transport industry during the pandemic. Having recognised the difficulties some members are facing, FTA has also launched the Logistics Efficiency Network Service (LENS), an exchange portal that companies could use to share and discuss availability of their fleet during the COVID-19 period or to post their requirements of additional vehicles or personnel to transport goods during this period.

In Ireland, FTAI released this "Stay safe" video particularly dedicated to drivers. You can find further information on their website at ftai.ie:

The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport inaugurated the COVID-19 National Logistics Forum on 16th April 2020. The Forum is collecting data to create an open database that will advertise what capacity is available in the sector, in order for it to be utilised to keep supply lines open. You can contribute filling out their form or contact the COVID-19 National Logistics Forum at nationallogisticsforum@cilt.ie.

Transpoco is again listed on the Crown Commercial Service website, the biggest public sector procurement organisation in the UK. The CCS acts as an executive agency, sponsored by the Cabinet Office of the UK Government, that brings together policy, advice and direct buying, providing commercial services to the public sector and saving money for the taxpayer.

The CCS helps in fact public sector companies focusing on reliable suppliers while providing the experience of a much simpler and fully compliant procurement process, so they get real value for money. Working as a reference, the CCS provides their expertise to help government buyers getting the best commercial deals from the best providers.

The CCS reviews suppliers on a regular basis and evaluates their performance in terms of value and service provided to ensure contractors follow the desired standards required by public sector procurement.

The demand for the provision of services focusing on minimising operational costs is certainly not new for the public sector, that has largely and since long understood how the implementation of telematics can help providing the best experiences to citizens while controlling budget and with an eye on the environment.

Transpoco is the telematics provider of reference in the public sector in Ireland and is consolidating their presence in the public sector in the UK.

Last year saw telematics and fleet management software provider, Transpoco, work with Iberia to help the carrier achieve signicant operational savings by implementing its advanced fleet management solution on the carrier’s ground support equipment at numerous airports across the airline’s Spanish network. Ground Handling International is celebrating the success of Transpoco and fleet telematics with 3 full pages in the April 2020 issue.

Ángel Marcos, Iberia’s Chief Airport Services Officer, commented: “At Iberia we are constantly striving to find new ways of innovation, maximising efficiency and providing a punctual, safe and reliable service to our customers. By integrating the Transpoco fleet management software across multiple stations in Spain, we have helped to achieve this. The solution from Transpoco allows us to increase safety and performance on the ramp, and become more environmentally friendly while reducing operational costs,” he continues. “The Transpoco system and team have been very flexible and agile in reaching the business specifications of our requirements.”

The article is available on the Ground Handling International Website at http://magazine.groundhandling.com/magazine/

The runaway renewal of Stuttgart Airport has already started, earlier than originally planned, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The first phase of the project, which entails the full renewal of a section of the concrete pavement, got started on April 6th, 2020 and is supposed to last until April 22nd. The regular construction work will begin afterwards, on April 22nd through June 17th, 2020. The section that is under renewal was built in the mid-1990s and is located in the eastern part of the airport. Weather conditions and material characteristics determine the durability of the runway concrete – and, of course, its exposure: most aircraft land on the eastern part of the runway when they touch down in Stuttgart.

Walter Schoefer, CEO of Stuttgart Airport, claimed: “The earlier start of construction gives us more certainty for completing the partial renewal on time, despite the effects of the corona pandemic. The pandemic can also have an impact on the staff of the companies contracted and on supply chains. In view of the decline in passenger numbers, we have therefore decided to adjust our plans and start construction work early,” said Schoefer. “The seventeen days ahead of schedule without any flight operations will allow our experts to carry out many of the complex works in larger steps“.

Managing Director of Stuttgart Airport, Dr. Arina Freitag, added: “The early start of construction allows us to build non-stop. This gives us a significant lead, especially in the first construction phase, where a lot of complex work is involved. For our customers, this means planning reliability. Despite the pandemic, we are thus ensuring that Stuttgart Airport will be up and running again by June 18, 2020”.

On 18th June 2020, the runway will be back to its original length of 3,345 metres.

Photo by Anika Shahjadi on Unsplash

 

According to Berg Insight, the global installed base of active airport asset tracking systems, which was over 0.2 million units in 2019, will grow and reach 0.5 million units by 2024. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.4 percent, the active installed base is estimated to reach close to 0.5 million units worldwide in 2024. The current crisis in the aviation industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic will likely also slow down the airport asset tracking market in the short-term.

The data include all airport asset tracking systems deployed for various motorised ground support equipment (GSE), non-motorised equipment (NME) as well as other applicable airport assets such as on-road vehicles used in airport environments.

An increasing uptake of airport asset tracking during the forecast period is in any case expected as a number of trends related to technological advancements, collaboration and innovation among the solution providers and their prospective customers are emerging. Airport asset tracking systems will surely have a significant role in containing costs and helping airlines make the most of their vehicles and their resources.

Car manufacturers are answering calls coming from all over the world to help ramp up the production of ventilators and face masks during the coronavirus pandemic.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles confirmed last Monday that one of their production plants in China would soon have production capacity for 1M face masks per month. The masks will be donated to will be donated to police, emergency medical technicians, firefighters and workers in hospitals and healthcare clinics.

Ford Motor has teamed with 3M and GE Healthcare to produce powered-air purifying respirators, ventilators, and face shields. Ford and 3M will also work on a new respirator design with the idea of leveraging parts from both companies to meet the huge demand caused by the pandemic.

General Motors and Tesla have all pledged their support to offer resources to make more ventilators, along with Japanese carmaker Nissan and Formula 1 teams in the UK.

General Motors is working closely with Ventec Life Systems to rapidly scale up production of their critically important respiratory products.

Tesla's CEO Elon Musk stated via Twitter he expects 1,200 respirators coming from the adjusted manufacturing plant to be ready this week.

As per Formula1, seven UK-based F1 teams have joined to manufacture and deliver respiratory devices. The initiative is known as "Project Pitlane" and will use the resources and skills of the teams on different tasks such as reverse engineering existing medical devices, supporting the scaling in production of ventilators and design and prototype a new device that will be later certified and manufactured.