Latest Update: Wednesday, 26th July 2023
Despite the lifting of restrictions in England, Bioguard Environmental Limited (Bioguard) are keeping a very close eye on the spread, development and management of this disease. Our number one priority continues to be the safety of our employees, customers, and their families. Our employees always follow strict hygiene protocols. The nature of our business, the handling of pesticides and pests in often less than hygienic environments, already dictating this through the use of Personal Protective Equipment and rigorous hygiene procedures. Regular hand washing and using an alcohol-based hand sanitiser has always been part of our daily work ritual. We have reinforced this in line with the latest guidelines from Public Health England.
As part of our work already includes visiting food and drugs manufacturing facilities where high standards of hygiene are a prerequisite for visiting, we already naturally self-isolate from such clients should the need arise.
To summarise:
Our employees all operate from their home locations and work independently on a day to day basis. They are generally classed as lone workers thereby helping to reduce the risk of disease transmission between our own workforce.
Our employees have all been vaccinated.
A record of employee movements is kept for track and trace purposes.
Where more than one employee is required to undertake works for a customer, our employees will, wherever possible, travel to site in their own company vehicles and will not vehicle share.
Prior to any visit to a customer’s premises we will communicate by email, text message or phone with the principal site contact(s) to ensure there are no restrictions which would prevent us visiting.
Social distancing will be respected at all times. In addition, to assist protection and help reduce risk, disposable nitrile gloves and FFP3 disposable toxic particle masks will be worn where requested or deemed appropriate.
All company and client liaison meetings are being undertaken by electronic means until further notice.
Any team member who is worried they may have symptoms of Coronavirus (COVID-19) will be told to stay home and isolate in line with the latest guidelines. This includes instructing our team members who feel ill or who have travelled to affected areas abroad to stay at home and self-isolate until we can be certain they are well enough to safely return to work. A supply of SARS-CoV 2 Rapid Antigen Tests are held by the company for employee use.
As key workers, we will continue to meet our contractual obligations as long as we are not prevented from doing so by possible restrictions imposed by Government or changes to our customers policies regarding contractor visits to their sites.
Currently, we have adequate stocks of pesticides to meet our needs for the foreseeable future. If this situation changes at a later stage, and disruption to supply chains is predicted, we will provide updates accordingly.
As the services we provide are not of the type that would normally impact on the operational ability of our customers, we are confident that we can continue to function effectively as key workers without causing any disruption to our customers operating procedures.
This is of course a long-term developing story and as such we will ensure that we adapt accordingly in the weeks and months ahead. We are closely monitoring this challenging situation to make sure we are taking all necessary precautions to protect our employees, customers and colleagues alike. Bioguard currently remain open for business and remember, should we be unable to visit you for any reason, you can always contact us by telephone or electronic means for advice relating to any aspect of pest management on your property.
We would of course also appreciate your efforts in helping to keep our workforce safe and request you advise us immediately should any member of your staff be confirmed as carrying Coronavirus (COVID-19).
