This month saw Halewood open its first Covid-19 Rapid Testing Hub, which has been developed in accordance with the Department of Health, Public Health England and the NHS and is fully compliant with all their rules and regulations.
This programme is in addition to the other safety protocols we have had on site during the pandemic and has required a huge amount of teamwork across all parts of the plant. It also came with a rapid turn-around and no one knows that better than our Estates team who built the new testing centre in just two and a half days!
Last week, On Track spoke with Estates’ joiners Pat Loftus, John Maloney and Ronnie Ali who were tasked with the job in-hand, along with apprentice Cameron Littlemore.
Pat said: “It was a busy start to the year for us as we began the project on 4 January and had re-modified the original design, built and installed the new testing hub by 6 January!
“We did have an outline brief ahead of the Christmas shutdown but had to adapt this to suit the materials and tools we had access to so we needed to think quick on our feet.
“On day one, we set out the panels and cut them to size in the workshop, erected the five cubicles in the testing area on day two, which meant we just needed to install the windows and add the finishing touches on day three, so all the work was completed in just 2.5 days.
Pat added: “We are proud to have built this first of a kind facility in-house for Halewood, especially as it is contributing to our employee’s health, safety and well-being during the Covid-19 pandemic. It also means the business can keep building cars safely- which we must continue to do.”
Mike Chadwick, Halewood’s Covid-19 IMT lead and paint shop manager, said: “It’s incredible that we have been able to utilise our in-house talent and skills, rather than bring in an external supplier to build something so pivotal, which is helping to keep our factory doors open.
“Rapid testing is enabling our employees to safely return to work and carry on with their everyday lives as much as Lockdown permits. It’s our people that are leading the way with this and we should all feel very proud of what has been achieved with the installation of the new Rapid Testing Hub.
“A huge well done to Estates and all the other teams at Halewood who have worked tirelessly to deliver this programme so that we can safely get back to doing what we do best- building quality cars for our customers that we all can feel proud of.”
