Working with Hiremech as the lockdown starts to ease

We hope that you and your families are safe and well at this time.

As the lockdown begins to ease slightly, we have noticed that more businesses are starting to operate again. We are still here offering our usual quality services across forklift sales, hire, maintenance and training to support your business through the next stages.

As well as working with our great customers at this time, we’ve also been helping out in the local community. We have been working with North London Community Consortium delivering hot food to the NHS Staff at North Middlesex Hospital. We donated two Hiremech vans and volunteer staff to make the deliveries.

It was a joint effort with some of our oldest and most valued customers donating towards this great initiative as well. Kolak Snack Foods donated crisps and snacks, Wing Yip donated rice, and London Lids for provided the food containers. It was so great to see our customers come together to help out and we continue to help those who are vulnerable and in need at this extraordinary time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When it comes to helping out our customers, we are still here with more road engineers back in their vans to support those who are starting to open up over the coming weeks.

What do you need to know if you are opening up your business again after the Covid-19 lockdown?

Looking back to the beginning of 2020, or at any time before the lockdown, the idea of closing your business would have seemed very strange. But as we are now saying so much, this is the ‘new normal’ and many businesses have had to close during the lockdown to ensure everyone’s safety.

Now that businesses are starting to open up again, what do they need to think about in order to operate safely? If you are looking for guidelines for our industry then there are some good resources out there.

BITA (British Industrial Truck Association) and the FLTA (Fork Lift Truck Association), two of the materials handling industry’s leading authorities, have shown that great minds think alike.

Each organisation has created a series of Fact Sheets designed to share safe working practices for use during the current coronavirus pandemic – including training concerns.

Due to the critical role the materials handling industry is playing in maintaining the UK’s essential services, they have both opted to make the information freely available.

At www.bita.org.uk, you’ll find a new Coronavirus section, containing a library of free Fact Sheets across a range of topics.

There’s advice on standing down MHE (Manual Handling Equipment), cleaning equipment which reduces the risk of spreading infection and much more. There’s even guidance on protocols for service engineers visiting customer sites, too.

Announcing the news, BITA president Simon Barkworth stressed that the ability of the logistics industry to ensure a supply chain without interruption is critical and the crucial role of the materials handling sector must not be overlooked.

The FLTA website, www.fork-truck.org.uk, has also been updated and now includes a Coronavirus Resources section. It contains straightforward advice designed to help those in the industry to safely manage operations during this challenging time.

As well as advice on keeping forklifts clean and ensuring safe operations, there’s also easy-to-understand information about meeting requirements for training and Thorough Examination, too.

Alongside these free resources, the FLTA has opened its Member resources to the public, in the hopes that it will encourage UK businesses to operate their lift trucks as safely as possible.

If you are looking for support to get your business and your forklifts moving again, then do get in touch and speak to one of the team today.