B.U.D.I.E.S. training for good mental health

Millions of people every day face the reality of living with a mental health illness – an illness that others may not see, know about or understand. Whether it’s anxiety, stress, depression or low moods, to illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar or Alzheimer’s, these conditions can have a dramatic effect on a person’s life.

At Premier Galvanizing we believe we have a duty of care and a moral obligation to our employees to help them have good mental health, especially as the workplace – regardless of industry or type – can sometimes be a place of additional stress or anxiety.

The Mental Health Foundation says: “We believe in workplaces where everyone can thrive. We also believe in the role of employers, employees and businesses in creating thriving communities.”

We believe in this too, and it’s why we have recently engaged in B.U.D.I.E.S training for good mental health.

The Mental Wellbeing B.U.D.I.E.S. virtual classroom is a one-hour programme to initiate mental health support in the workplace. The virtual classroom course is helping to give our staff the listening skills and B.U.D.I.E.S. framework to support their colleagues throughout the year.

The B.U.D.I.E.S. framework focuses on:

B – Build a helping relationship
U – Understand 
D – Determine if your colleague is in crisis
I – Inform about self-help
E – Encourage professional help
S – Safety at all times

The course stresses the importance of listening skills and how to deal with a crisis. It also encourages people to have ‘Wellbeing B.U.D.I.E.S.’ at work – someone to talk to if you’re in need of a friendly ear.

Before COVID, we were due to complete some Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training courses, but as these were going to be face-to-face, we’re pleased to have found an alternative in the B.U.D.I.E.S. virtual classroom.

Two members of our team have already taken the B.U.D.I.E.S. training, and we have more sessions scheduled.

Later this year, we will complete the MHFA training and we’ll also provide colleagues with full contact details for support including:

• Their local BUDIE (telephone, email, Whatsapp)
• Contact details for our Employee Assistance Programme
• Local support networks

The Mental Health Foundation says: “Mental health is something we all have. When we enjoy good mental health, we have a sense of purpose and direction, the energy to do the things we want to do, and the ability to deal with the challenges that happen in our lives.”

At Premier Galvanizing we aim to promote good mental health, and foster purpose, direction and the ability to successfully navigate through life.

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During these COVID times, health and safety is especially important at Premier Galvanizing and Joseph Ash Galvanizing.

As well as managing health and safety at our plants, we have also issued new safety guidance (in the form of posters) for our delivery drivers at Premier Galvanizing and Joseph Ash Galvanizing plants.

To view the safety posters for our drivers, click here.

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Health and safety has always been of paramount importance to our company. This is especially the case during these COVID times.

Since the Coronavirus pandemic began to affect the UK, our plants have remained opened, but we have been working safely.

To help customers and suppliers feel secure whilst working with us (either when meeting with our delivery drivers, or when visiting our plants), we have put extra measures in place in each plant. These measure comply with the Government’s guidance on managing the risk of COVID-19. For example:

• We have cleaning, handwashing and hygiene procedures in line with guidance.
• We have taken all reasonable steps to help people work from home.
• We have taken all reasonable steps to maintain a 2m distance in the workplace.
• Where people cannot be 2m apart, we have done everything practical to manage the risk of transmission.

Each Premier Galvanizing and Joseph Ash Galvanizing plant has recently been assessed against the guidelines. Each plant has been issued with a certificate to show compliance.

For further information about how we’re managing risk during this epidemic, please also read our Epidemic Health and Safety Policy.

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Three of our team members at Premier Galvanizing have recently hit amazing long-time-service milestones. Please join us in celebrating their anniversaries:

Mike Whitehurst – Premier Galvanizing Hull, 20 years’ service
Mike started with us in April 2000 and is the last remaining employee from the original team at Premier Galvanizing. He has a customer facing role within the yard team and has formed strong customer relations. He continues to be a highly regarded, loyal and reliable member of the team.

John Moat – Premier Galvanizing Hull, 15 years’ service
Steve Moat – Premier Galvanizing Hull, 15 years’ service
The brothers celebrate 15 years loyal service with us and have seen the business change and evolve considerably. Both have represented hockey at international level and are now involved with coaching the next generation.

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Epidemic health and safety policy – keeping employees and customers safe at Premier Galvanizing.

Since the Coronavirus pandemic began to affect us in the UK, Premier Galvanizing and Joseph Ash Galvanizing plants have remained opened. This is because it’s critical to maintain operations for essential service companies who rely on us as part of their supply chain.

As we are open, we have written and implemented a new epidemic health and safety policy with the goal of keeping our employees – and any customers and suppliers who visit our site – safe and well. You can read the new policy here.

Health and safety has always been of paramount importance to Premier Galvanizing and Joseph Ash Galvanizing, and it’s something we’ve been recognised for year-on-year with many RoSPA awards. Therefore the epidemic policy is very important to us. If you are a customer or a supplier who needs to visit one of our plants, or meet with one of our operatives or delivery drivers, we hope you find this new policy useful and comforting as it demonstrates we are doing everything we can to keep our plants safe.

Please get in touch with our Health and Safety Manager – Chris Gibson – should you have any questions or concerns.

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This month, we’ve been extremely proud to have reached two decades in business at Premier Galvanizing!

Whilst we’ve not been able to physically celebrate due to the coronavirus restrictions, we’d like to thank you all – our customers – for booking our services over the years. We’ve grown alongside you and we look forward to being ‘Part of your team’ for many years to come.

To our team members, to be in business for 20 years requires great people, and we are lucky to have such an amazing team of people here and alongside us at Joseph Ash.

Thank you for a special 20 years and here’s to celebrating the next wonderful chapter together!

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COVID-19 – An update from Steven Hopkins, Group MD.

Dear Friends, Colleagues and Partners,

On Monday evening the Government issued stringent guidelines about the need for everyone to stay at home, including a request for employees to work from home unless it’s impossible to do so. Following the broadcast, many businesses – who cannot operate from home – temporarily closed until such time as the rules are relaxed.

After the announcement, the Joseph Ash Group (including Premier Galvanizing and Joseph Ash Galvanizing) took the decision to keep our plants open. This is because it is critical to maintain operations for the companies carrying out essential services, who rely on us as part of their supply chain.

For example, in the last few days and over the next few weeks we have the following steelwork booked into our plants:

• Motorway barriers and road infrastructure components
• Food manufacturing walkways
• Steelwork for the temporary NHS Nightingale Hospital (Excel Centre), other medical buildings and sadly a temporary morgue
• Gas mains, sewage works and oil pumping components
• Clinical waste bins and trucks
• Security fencing and security bollards
• Works we are undertaking on Project Mensa which is critical to maintaining the country’s nuclear defence capability, as we are the UK’s only ‘Fit for Nuclear’ approved galvanizing company.

The safety of our team members and customers is our top priority, therefore please be assured that whilst we are operating, we are adhering to the Government’s strict and necessary guidelines about social distancing and hygiene.

To minimise the numbers of people at the plants, all team members who are able to work from home are doing so, and they have been equipped with the necessary IT and communications tools to allow them to work remotely.

If you have any questions or concerns, please get in touch.

We hope you and your friends, families and colleagues keep safe and well during this difficult time.

Steven Hopkins
Managing Director
Joseph Ash Group

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Dear Friends, Customers, Colleagues and Partners,

As the news about COVID-19 develops day-by-day and we’re having to adapt our work and home lives I thought I’d share an update about Premier Galvanizing and Joseph Ash Galvanizing.

The good news is… it’s business-as-usual (mostly).

So far our workforce of 570-odd people has been relatively unaffected, with no-one ill yet. This is great news, but maybe I should be touching wood, as realistically (and sadly), we’re likely to see some sickness soon.

Because everyone’s health and safety is our primary concern and we want to do our bit to limit the spread of the virus, we have made some changes to the way we work. These are outlined below:

• Under normal circumstances, we’re a company that likes to visit customers. It is not appropriate for us to do this right now however, so we’ll be keeping in touch with you via telephone and email. The only times we’ll visit is when we collect and deliver steel, or at your specific request – for example if you need some advice about venting. During these meetings our team members will respectfully not shake hands, they’ll decline drinks, they’ll maximise personal space, and they’ll minimise contact with surfaces and equipment, whilst getting the job done quickly and efficiently.
  
• We’re also following these procedures internally as well by keeping visits between our nine sites to a mimimum. We’re also conducting meetings by Skype and Facetime to avoid gatherings. And when we must gather, hand gel is used, maximum space between everyone is encouraged, we’re not touching each other’s possessions and we’re not sharing food. This applies in our mess rooms as much as our offices. Everyone has also stopped shaking hands.
  
• We have doubled our efforts on hygiene by deep cleaning the kitchens and toilets to prevent opportunities for germs/bacteria to settle and breed. All cloth towels and tea towels have been replaced by disposable paper ones and we’ve been lucky enough to secure a large amount of anti-bacterial wipes for all divisions. We’ve also distributed 62 wall-mounted automatic sanitiser units to all plants, and supplied all team members with individual pocket-sized hand sanitiser bottles. (Lovingly filled and distributed by some of our team members at Head Office.)

• In terms of travel and transport, all business flights have been banned, and car sharing is being avoided where possible. Procedures have also been put in place for receiving goods and dealing with visitors safely.
  
• To maintain smooth operations, we’ve ordered a tad more zinc in case of supply difficulties, we’ve arranged kettle maintenance back-up, and we’ve ordered a supply of laptops for those who have to self-isolate and work from home.
  
• Finally, and most importantly… we’ve sent our pregnant ladies home!

So, all in all, I think we are in a good place to ride out the storm, and continue to provide you with a great service and the best metal finishing quality available in the UK. We want to do our bit to keep the economy moving and we don’t believe that any plant closure will become necessary. No doubt we will have our share of temporary absences but, logically, our capacity is likely to flex similarly to that of our customers.

If you have any concerns – or if you fancy someone new to talk to during periods of self-isolation – please get in touch.

In the meantime, we wish you and your families a quick recovery from whatever Nature throws at you.

Kindest regards,

Steven Hopkins

Joseph Ash Group MD

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As health and safety is of paramount importance at Premier Galvanizing and Joseph Ash Galvanizing, we want our plants to be safe for all drivers who drop-off and collect loads. With this in mind, we recently produced a ‘Safe deliveries’ posters for our customers. 

The poster reminds all drivers who enter/leave our plants to ensure their goods and materials are loaded safely and correctly on their trucks. It has lots of useful tips and advice on how to load and unload correctly. 

The posters are being printed and we aim to post hard copies to customers before Christmas. If you’d like to download an electronic copy so that you can read the safety advice today click here, or call your usual contact number to request a poster.

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We’re pleased to announce that for the second year running, our Corby plant is sponsoring Billericay Town FC.

Billericay FC is part of the National League South, the sixth tier of English football, and play at New Lodge in Billericay, Essex. They are the second most successful club in FA Vase history, having won the competition on three occasions.

With seven games underway so far since the start of the season, and another one to come this weekend, we’re sending the players and supporters our very best wishes for 2019/2020.

Good luck!

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