COVID-19

Our priority is always the health, safety and wellbeing of our colleagues, partners and customers, so please be aware that we are taking all necessary measures to ensure that we reduce the risk of exposure to infection.

Some of these measures may affect you and your colleagues, so please read through and make yourself familiar with our current approach.

Monitoring and response

• Response team established and meeting regularly
• Business continuity plans implemented

We have established a pandemic/contingency team that continues to develop and implement the appropriate measures that should be taken during this situation, and to ensure that we take all actions necessary to ensure that we maintain health, safety and business resilience so that we can do our best to ensure there is no interruption to the service we provide to our customers.

We have a series of business continuity plans to ensure continued operation under challenging circumstances. The team is assisting the business in implementing our pandemic business continuity plan, while reviewing it and updating it in response to any new factors. 

The team is in regular contact and is taking both proactive and reactive steps to manage our response to the situation and to mitigate its impacts not only for our business, but also for our partners and customers.

Employee health

• Colleague communication and information protocols in place
• National and WHO guidelines adopted
• Self-isolation and home working policies implemented
• UK risk assessments conducted

As we continue to monitor the latest updates and information, we are taking additional measures to ensure that we safeguard the health of our colleagues and that we preserve our ability to operate effectively.

We are adhering strictly to national and WHO guidelines regarding exposure, quarantine and reporting, and we are in communication with colleagues to ensure that they are informed and supported.

We have introduced a policy of self-isolation where necessary, and we are taking advantage of home working wherever necessary or appropriate.

Risk assessments

In line with UK government requirements, we have conducted COVID-19 risk assessments for all of our work-related activities. The results of those assessments confirm that all of our colleagues are working in a low-risk environment.

We will continue to conduct and review these risk assessments on a regular basis to ensure that we are doing all we can to keep our colleagues, our partners and our customers safe.

General travel

• Travel restrictions implemented for high-risk countries and locations
• Non-essential travel not permitted

We are monitoring travel guidelines issued by national health agencies in the territories in which we operate, and we have implemented company-wide travel restrictions for those countries and regions that are considered high risk.

Our position on general travel is that not non-essential travel is not permitted until further notice. We review travel requests on a case-by-case basis.

Meetings and site visits

• Virtual meetings to be the default
• Service and maintenance activity to continue in alignment with customer protocols

Our colleagues routinely visit customers, suppliers and other partners for meetings and to provide training and continuing professional development presentations. We must acknowledge that this increases the risk of exposure to infection for everyone involved.

We understand the need to continue with these interactions, however, so we will continue to meet in person as required, but we will take all necessary precautions and follow all appropriate risk mitigation protocols. We are also able to conduct meetings virtually, either via telephone or using video conferencing platforms—please let us know if you would prefer this.

Many of our colleagues are engaged in servicing and maintenance of critical equipment. We acknowledge that these activities may require us to adjust protocols, and we will work with you to ensure that all parties are protected while essential work is undertaken. If necessary, we may need to delay or reschedule on-site work as appropriate.

Please contact your local representative or visit hydro-int.com/contact if you would like to discuss this further.

As the situation develops

We continue to assess the situation, and we will update our policies and guidance accordingly. Please refer to this page for our latest information. 

We are eager to work with you to contribute to everyone’s safety and to the effective management of this pandemic. We hope you will inform us of any developments in your business that might affect us, as we will continue to apprise you of any relevant developments in ours.