DVLA to use thermal cameras to tackle covid
Agency’s new measures for workers’ safety
THE DVLA has introduced a number of new measures in a bid to ensure Covid19-related safety for staff, including “hygiene hooks” to open door handles and thermal imaging cameras.
THE DVLA has introduced a number of new measures in a bid to ensure Covid-19-related safety for staff, including “hygiene hooks” to open door handles and thermal imaging cameras.
In a letter to staff, it says it has worked with Public Health Wales, environmental health and Swansea Bay Health Board and implemented recommendations.
It states it has recruited 31 additional housekeepers who are on site during the day “increasing visibility of cleaning” and allowing any issues to be dealt with quickly, in addition to out-of-hours cleaning teams.
Thermal imaging cameras to carry out temperature checks of staff on entry have been ordered and installation is expected to start early this month. Items they describe as “hygiene hooks” have also been ordered to allow staff to use door handles and lift buttons without needing to touch them.
It adds how it has continued to find opportunities for staff to work from home where possible, and to date has 2,208 staff working from home.
It means the numbers of staff working on site is significantly lower than usual, and applications posted to DVLA are currently taking six to eight weeks to process.
It comes as hundreds of staff are set to go on strike in a dispute over Covidrelated safety. Members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) at the site in Swansea will strike from Tuesday to Friday. The union said those involved will include operational staff who have not been working from home.
Further industrial action is planned if managers do not make the safety improvements the union is demanding. The PCS said it will engage in talks with the employer next week and present it with proposals to ensure staff safety at the DVLA.
One outbreak has been declared at DVLA, which was in the contact centre with 62 cases confirmed between December 1 and 21. Action was taken to provide a PCR test for all contact centre staff on a precautionary basis between December 21 to 23.
While Public Health Wales did not require or suggest the contact centre close at this point, it chose to do so over the Christmas period from December 24 to January 4. The contact centre outbreak status was lifted on February 24.
DVLA has taken advantage of a UK Government scheme to test workers weekly using rapid lateral flow tests for all staff. Since January, more than 13,000 of these tests have been carried out with one positive result.
It says it has spent more than £3.6 million making sites Covid secure, including leasing a new building to create an additional 240 socially distanced desks.
There are one-way systems in place throughout the site, and social distancing markers on the floors, especially in areas like lift lobbies and catering outlets which are providing takeaway food.
Communal areas, such as rest areas, catering seating areas and meeting rooms are closed, and lifts are restricted to two people at a time in large lifts and single use when the lifts are smaller.
All floors are divided up into zones, or bubbles, with no mixing of staff allowed between zones. Staff must wear masks when not at their desks, perspex screens have been installed and staggered start and finish times have also been implemented to control the flow of staff in and out of buildings at any one time.
Air conditioning has also been reconfigured to use external fresh air only, with no recycling of air.
With the increased prevalence of new Covid variants, it has continued to review the number of staff on site.
A DVLA spokesman said: “The safety of our staff is paramount, and we have continuously adapted our measures over the past year and will continue to do so.
“There is currently not a single member of staff in the 10-day isolation period, out of a workforce of more than 6,000.
“DVLA has ensured that it has followed Welsh Government guidance at every single point throughout the pandemic having consistently worked with Public Health Wales, environmental health and Swansea Bay Health Board to introduce a wide range of safety measures.
“This has enabled DVLA to continue to deliver essential services right across the UK in a Covid-secure way.”