Today (Thursday 18th of June 2020), First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon revealed plans to move the country into ‘Phase 2’ of the Scottish Government’s COVID-19 Routemap. We are aware that this means that while the virus is deemed to be ‘controlled’, the ‘risk of spreading remains’.
For our staff, working from home is still the default position. However, due to the very nature of our work, access to specialist equipment and to our labs, means that there is a need for some of our team to be at work. Staff who can, will continue to work from home and plans for a more flexible and blended work style will be our new routine.
Phase 2 of the Scottish Government guidance allows for ‘Non-essential indoor non-office-based workplaces – including factories & warehouses, lab & research facilities to re-open with physical distancing’ from Monday 29th June. This means that at Mage Control Systems, some of our engineering team can begin a gradual return to the tools used for design, build and test. Spread across a large open area with various lab/testing facilities, we are looking forward to welcoming some of Team Mage back to our premises – safely and always in line with Scottish Government guidance.
We have been working to make this return to work possible. From looking at plans around the premises that will facilitate appropriate physical distancing at workstations, to introducing temporary measures such as a 4-day working week to promote staff wellbeing during lockdown, we have been responsive and pro-active.
Read more on what we’ve done so far here.
Thankfully, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, we had invested in a large expansion of our overall floor space and now have two additional rooms that we can use.
Risk assessments, good practice guidance and signage have been implemented to ensure the safety and well-being of those staff who have to come in to work – from entering the building touch free to making specialist equipment safe to use.
Throughout the past three months, our work has continued in a slightly reduced capacity, as was the norm for many innovation developers. Our team is now really looking forward to returning to work, delivering on projects for our clients.
In fact, we imagine that there will be fierce competition for allotted time at work – we are a close and very socially bonded team and well, we’ve really, really missed each other.
