Daily Update 02/04/2020

Bus changes

Most of you will have recieved an email containing information about changes to buses which are being brought in from Monday next week. Important details can be found below.

Phase 1: from 06 April 2020

• Bus J23 Park & Ride (secure bus only)

• Bus J24 Park & Ride (direct – no stopping)

• Sedgemoor Campus (secure us only)

• Quantock Lakes Park & Ride (direct – no stopping)

• Cannington Park & Ride (direct – no stopping)

• Bus M - Minehead Route (stopping service)

• Taunton (no stopping from North Petherton onwards)

• Bus C – Weston-Super-Mare (no stopping from Dunball Motors onwards)

Phase 2: from 14 April 2020, until further notice:

• Bus J23 Park & Ride (secure bus only)

• Bus J24 Park & Ride (direct – no stopping)

• Sedgemoor Campus (secure bus only)

• Quantock Lakes Park & Ride (direct – no stopping)

• Cannington Park & Ride (direct – no stopping)

• Washford Cross Park & Ride (direct – no stopping)

Parking permits at Park & Rides are temporarily not required

There will also be a change to internal buses from Monday with the 2 door standing buses being removed from service to eliminate people having to stand and hold onto a hand rail.

Currently 12 new buses have been brought into operation by SPS with more coming online next week, planned total of additional buses is 61 creating a fleet of 191 vehicles. This will allow us to reduce bus capacity to 33% allowing for 2 metre distance compliance.

Protective screens will start to be installed across 75% of the bus fleet this weekend. The screens are being installed to provide an extra layer of protection for bus drivers. Coaches are unable to have screens installed so drivers will exit the vehicle before passengers board.

Travelling workers using Campuses

We have been engaging with EDF since this announcement was made. At this point in time EDF are unable to tell us how this is going to be brought in, what the system will look like or answer questions relating to subsistence payments. We have meetings planned for tomorrow afternoon which will hopefully provide more clarity on this topic. As soon as we have confirmed information we will make it available to all members.

Canteens

Further changes will be made to canteens in the coming days which will limit tables to one person per table. We ask all of you to please be respectful to the canteen staff when using the facilities, they are doing the best they can at this difficult time.

Testing

Those of you using J23 will have already seen the thermal scanners which have been brought in. These will also be in place at North & South Plaza by tomorrow to ensure that every person coming onto the project is not presenting with a high temperature.

EDF have also purchased 2000 test kits for the project which will be able to establish whether or not someone has already had Covid-19. These should be here by the middle of next week.

KierBam

For our KierBam members who are already on temporary layoff we can guarantee that furlough payments will be made on a weekly basis by the following employers; Kier, Bam, Plantforce, Staines, Logical, Danny Sullivan, VGC & Fortel.

No official confirmation from Reliable or Lynch, although KierBam have assured us these companies will make payments on a weekly basis.

Bylor

Unite have been at the forefront of negotiations with Bylor and have been able to secure agreement for those members already in self-isolation for 12 weeks to be able to contact Danny Crampsie or Jayne Sims and ask to be transferred to furlough on the basis of "Shielding".

We have also been negotiating with Bylor for a voluntary furlough system to be implemented. This is very close to being agreed and should be in place to allow for people who wish to be temporarily laid off to be able to volunteer and not have to come back to HPC after the Easter weekend. This will be subject to agreement between Bylor and the individual based on their trade and the project need.

We have raised the issued faced by individuals having to clock in & out each day. Currently G4S and Bylor are in coversation to try and be able to use turnstile data for clocking purposes which will remove the need for people to use the Bylor clocks. Hopefully we will be able to get this implemented sooner rather than later to remove the heightened risk involved with people queueing and touching screens.

Motorcycles

We have asked EDF if we can create more spaces to allow people with motorcycles to be able to ride to work. EDF have agreed and will be making more permits available. We will be obtaining exact details on how many will be made available and how people can apply in the next 24 hours.

Walkways

We have been in conversation with EDF over the last few days about opening walkways between East, North and West. The walkways have been officially opened today but require PPE to be worn. We will continue to push for these to be made PPE free to allow for people to walk between the office buildings instead of having to use an internal bus.