It’s been over 4 years since Amalgamate were appointed to work with Ypeople, an independent registered charity, providing support to Scotland’s vulnerable people. Ypeople operates a number of services across Scotland, from Glasgow to the Orkney Islands. The organisation delivers a broad range of services to support some of the most vulnerable people in society.
For the past 4 years, we have successfully been supporting Ypeople in developing a robust health and safety management system, while also developing and improving the safety culture within the organisation.
2020 brought the challenge nobody expected – Covid-19. A wide range of restrictions were imposed upon all services and placed Ypeople in a particularly difficult situation. Their support staff received the status of key workers and continued working, providing support to those most vulnerable at this difficult time.
This meant that Ypeople would require new H&S policies and guidance to ensure that they were Covid-19 compliant.
Our Trainers and Consultants closely followed all guidance provided by the government, the HSE and the NHS. Within a fortnight we were able to produce concise and reliable guidance and provide advice to Ypeople on the most concerning issues such as Covid-19 controls and the protection of their vulnerable staff.
Ypeople received a full toolkit for the health and safety of homeworkers as well as a business preparedness checklist that allowed them to prepare a facility preparedness plan. With these tools, the organisation was able to transition into the lockdown safely and continue providing their services, as well as plan for the future.
To ensure smooth and efficient implementation of Covid-19 safety systems, we cooperated with senior management in order to organise a series of audits that would allow us to evaluate the effectiveness of the company’s procedures and to find areas for further improvement.
Within a month, we conducted a total of 20 audits across Scotland, visited 4 offices, 4 out-of-school care facilities and 12 supported facilities of various nature and size. After each visit, a comprehensive report was drawn up with details of the inspection and detailed instructions for improvement as appropriate.
It has been a challenging time for Ypeople, just like many other organisations, but we believe, that with our help, they will make it through this difficult period safely.
We developed a comprehensive set of tools that have helped Ypeople to operate during the Covid-19 pandemic. We are devoted to supporting them through consistent contact and auditing. We are listening to their voices and needs and will strive to support the company in these challenging times.
We will also continue to support Ypeople in all other Health and Safety aspects to ensure a robust Health and Safety Management System and a positive attitude towards safety across the team.
If you are interested in any of our consultancy services, or have any questions, please contact us on t: +44 (0)141 244 0181 or e: info@amalgamate-safety.com
