Covid-19 has brought many industries to a standstill, but we are at the point where the world must start to turn again. The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) is speaking to the government about a list of measures to get the construction industry back on track and allow companies to mitigate risks for employees.
The building blocks of the CLC’s document, the Road to Recovery, are three phases: ‘restart’ to increase the sector’s output, ‘reset’ to drive demand and strengthen supply chains and ‘reinvent’ to deliver better value through collaboration and partnerships. All three phases aim to boost long-term productivity and UK-wide infrastructure priorities while reducing carbon emissions and improving efficiency – all in line with operating in a post-pandemic world.
This plan is now awaiting government feedback, but Mayer Construction is already up and running with new ways of working across the board that allow us to boost productivity while operating safely and effectively. We have tailored published government and industry body guidelines to our business and to each project to ensure we mitigate risks while providing the high quality of work our clients expect from us.
Safety on site
Now as much as ever, the safety of our team is paramount. We closely monitor government guidelines on how to work safely during the pandemic and have put in place a range of measures such as increased opportunities for hand washing and surface cleaning and using back-to-back or side-to-side working where possible.
Due to the nature of our projects, often it is not possible for our team of experts to work entirely alone. Where possible we limit the number of people on site at any one time. By assessing how crucial working together is to a project, we can map out an accurate project timeline while putting safety first.
In terms of timelines, we have been working closely with clients to mitigate Covid-related costs and reschedule work to minimise delays. Team working and collaboration to ensure work can carry on has been vital and we are grateful to the people we work with that have made this a success.
In the office
Mayer Construction’s office team is agile and lean, which means we were able to quickly adapt our ways of working. We have implemented working from home wherever possible, adding a new layer of IT infrastructure to make this as straightforward and efficient as possible.
We have had particular success with online meetings, both within the team and with clients. We are using the latest digital conferencing and client tools to ensure that we communicate with clients as effectively as we always do. The added bonus to online meetings is reduced travel time, which has allowed our team to maximise productivity.
Opportunities in a post-pandemic world
The Covi-19 pandemic has shone a light on many aspects of construction and infrastructure across the UK, revealing new societal demands and opportunities. For example, Mayer Construction is now looking at healthcare projects to provide the facilities the UK needs, adapting our expertise to focus on this growing sector.
We are looking to adapt our tendering process to ensure we make the most of our expertise while conforming to new guidelines. Communication with potential clients will take a different form as social distancing is maintained. However, we are and will continue to be fully open for business.