How we are coping as a business during the Covid-19 Pandemic
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I will happily test a few samples if you produce them sir !
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Any chance of getting some of these masks from Good Art?
https://www.goodart.com/collections/recent-adds/products/good-art-mask
… and these Covid Relief rubber biscuits?
https://www.goodart.com/collections/recent-adds/products/covid-relief-rubber-biscuit
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Ok, all good. No worries. Thanks for the reply.
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Without wanting to state the bleeding obvious, these are times that are presenting challenges that we are all having to work out how to cope with. We have fallen into a pretty good routine and, credit to the whole crew, we are managing to muddle along.
So far we have managed not to furlough anyone (shame, I was top of the list @Madame Buttonfly and @Alex drew up
). We are really keen that our customer service and speedy shipping do not suffer, I am strongly of the opinion that on the "other side" the companies that looked after their customers well during the crisis will be rewarded with increased customer loyalty.On a daily basis this is how we are running things, @Alex , @AdamJ and @AdamC deal with all inbound and outbound shipping. I am the hemming and pimping bitch. @Steve and @Sam predominantly work from home, they come into the office to take studio pics when they have to, but everything else (photo editing, newsletter creation, new product creation etc) they do from home. @Chesson @Graham also work from home, they deal with order queries, website queries, live chat etc etc, much of what we do when answering questions does require us to physically check and measure stuff, but they do all the initial grunt work and then hand the stuff they can't do from home to the guys in the office, this allows the shipping team to do just that, with fewer interruptions. @Chesson is actually in the office today, doing repairs that are too difficult for me to attempt. And everyone is mucking in with website maintenance and updates, all doing what's needed - even when well outside the scope of their "normal" roles.
@Madame Buttonfly mainly works from home, dealing with the mountains of administrative crap that trying to extract a loan out of the government "backed" scheme entails. We believe we will get a confirmation for the loan in the next few days, our accountants can't believe that we've managed it this quickly, all credit to Paula for dealing with the day to day minutiae that would drive the rest of us mad. She also sorts our all inbound and outbound payments, bookkeeping, VAT returns etc etc.
Website sales are holding up which is amazing, thank you all who are supporting us.
And thanks to Haraki and the .jp crew for being amazingly flexible and to the whole UK crew for just getting on with it…
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it's lovely hearing a detailed update from you guys! thanks!
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Well done everybody. Great to read such a positive post.
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So, here's our back to work plan. It's long, but you may feel it's worth a read:
IRON HEART – COVID-19 BACK TO WORK PLAN
We are currently planning to ask everyone to return to work and back to their usual roles as best they can on Monday 27th July.
In doing this, we have two important priorities:
To minimise the risk of Covid-19 infection in the workplace, to ensure the health and safety of everyone in the team, and the people they go home to.
To get the business (as far as we can) back to norma,l ready for the busy autumn and winter months, and at the same time safeguard the health of the business by ensuring that operations can continue in the event that (worst case scenario) some staff are taken ill.This plan is provisional and subject to change if the Covid-19 situation changes, and/or if there are new rules/guidelines introduced by the UK Government. Of course, we will be closely following developments and will update procedures accordingly as time goes by.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and Hygiene
We will supply washable face masks and disposable gloves which everyone will need to wear at all times inside the workshops/offices. We will also provide clear plastic visors, although wearing these will be optional.
We will supply each of you a bottle of hand sanitizer and place a large bottle of sanitizer in each area, along with packs of disinfectant wipes to keep worktops, door handles etc. etc. clean and disinfected before use.
We would ask everyone to shower after returning home from work, and again before coming into work.
Clothing should be washed at 60°C.
You will get your temperature checked on arrival to work. This will obviously need to be done on the car park side of the units. If your temperature is 37.8C or above, you will be asked to self isolate for 14 days in line with government guidelines.These are rigorous measures, but if everyone follows these rules to protect themselves, their colleagues and those in their households, there should be minimal risk of infection at work.
Staff “Zoning” and Distancing
At all times, staff should keep a minimum of one metre apart, the Unit 22 office desks will be positioned to ensure safe distancing. In tight areas like the shipping area, we’ll introduce a one-way system to avoid anyone having to squeeze past another. There are parts of our workshops where it’s impossible to practice safe distancing, so no-one apart from those listed should enter those areas.
Front Doors
Unit 21 - GM & AC only
Unit 20 - Chesson & Sam only
Unit 22 - AJ, Steve & Alex (+ Kira, approx 1 day per week, possibly split over more than one day) onlyStudio
Sam only where possible, Steve when Iron Heart/Sonder product photography is overwhelming for one person and occasionally Kira for social posts if needed. Kira and Steve must enter from Garden doors.Packing Area
Adam and Graham will do all the physical work, one on each windows PC and stay 2m+ apart. They can pick jeans but only one of them at a time. They will leave jeans to be hemmed by the door between 21 and 20.Sewing Area
Chesson's new office. He will do hemming, darning, pick all shirts and jackets etc. and pick up the slack on live chats etc. if the others are busy with a delivery. On photography days, his first job will be to pick a list of items provided by AJ and put them in (or at the door to) the studio prior to Sam's arrival.IHUK Toilet
Off-limits to all but Chesson and Sam.Unit 21 Kitchen
Adam and Graham only.Unit 22 Office and Wesco Mezzanine
AJ, Alex, Steve and Kira (approx 1 day per week, possibly split over more than one day)Garden
Everyone! We must continue to practice safe distancing in the garden, but this space can be used for chats and meetings, as a route to another area to save walking through the workshops, and simply to take off PPE for a break and breath of fresh air! We will ensure there is some cover outside, and let’s all hope for lots of good, dry weather.Staff – Who Should Operate in Which Areas
Clearly, there may be some swapping around of roles on certain days, especially if anyone is out of the office, and roles/zones for those days will be agreed in advance. Giles and Paula will work predominantly from home, and only come into premises when additional cover is required, and/or for meetings in the garden.
Adam – shipping area
AJ – office
Alex - office or home
Chesson – Unit 20
Giles – home
Graham – shipping area
Kira (approx 1 day per week, possibly split over more than one day) – office and occasionally photo studio
Paula – home
Sam – home and photo studio. Sam will edit all photos from home to minimise staff in unit 22 office
Steve – office and occasionally photo studioVentilation
All work spaces must have at least one door or window open at all times whilst in use, ideally two windows/door to create a draft.
Eating and Drinking
Do feel free to bring food and drinks into work, whenever possible eat outdoors, and please dispose of any food/drink waste considerately. The Pump House Café is due to re-open so we should give him as much business as possible, and petty cash will be available for coffees each day.
Toilet Facilities
As a rule, you should use the shared toilet block facilities, although some of these are better kept than others. The cloakroom at Paula and Giles’s house will also be available for anyone who doesn’t want to use the communal toilets.
Tidiness and Cleanliness
We are in the process of contracting a regular cleaning service. For them to be able to provide a good service we need to offer tidy premises and clear desktops. We have also made a large investment in new storage facilities in order to be more organised, tidy and efficient. Going forward we will operate a zero-tolerance approach to untidiness! We all take a massive pride in Iron Heart and the roles we play, we should take equal pride in our workplace and keeping it looking great and running smoothly.
Working from Home
The last few months have demonstrated how each and every one of us can work effectively from home (although obviously in some cases, not being able to cover our full role). We are looking forward to having everyone together in the workshop/office to catch up with each other and rekindle the team spirit and camaraderie that we have missed over the past few months. However, if there are times when you are working on specific tasks/projects when you feel you could work equally or more efficiently from home then please discuss with your manager.
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Definitely worth a read.For whatever it’s worth it’s comforting to me to see a company with an intelligent well thought out plan,without employee health and safety being compromised. Over the last 4 months I’ve gotten 2 shirts from you guys and if I didn’t know that there was a pandemic I certainly wouldn’t have known by my dealings with IH. You guys have been nothing short of exemplary during this whole ordeal,hence my post on another thread…”IH is just about the only good thing in 2020”
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Steve'll have to…......his local is The Old House at Home.....
Bottom of this article:
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Clothing should be washed at 60°C.
The safety measure most likely to cause revolt
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if I didn’t know that there was a pandemic I certainly wouldn’t have known by my dealings with IH.
Arthur, that is extremely gratifying to hear. One of our goals going into this thing that we would never use Covid as an excuse for anything, and that we would try to carry on in a way that no one would know that our working practices had had to change.
Frankly it is a testament to the staff that we have achieved that. April was our busiest month for online sales ever and I don't think that our service suffered in any noticeable way…
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So part of the employee re-integration plan is that I work from home…..Something that I think most of them had hoped I would do years ago
So today, I started sorting stuff out. Where better to spend my working hours that surrounded by my fishing tackle, so the fishing room, is now the study/fishing room (not necessarily in that order):
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@Giles Anything that we can do to make the transition back to the office easier for your staff?
I have been known to keep Graham on chats for far longer than necessary to answer my question.
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Wow Giles. That’s impressive! I have a collection but mine pales!
