As our local communities continue to deal with the unprecedented situation caused by the impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), NHP has been progressively implementing our planned approach to managing this developing public health crisis. We wish to share with you how NHP is ensuring the health and wellbeing of our employees whilst maintaining high quality business operations in support of our customers and industry partners.
The most effective way to minimise the associated risks of COVID-19 is to limit the contact between people, so our plans have been developed with this in mind. In order to protect the health and wellbeing of our employees, NHP has implemented the following initiatives thus far:
Remote working
- Our people will be working from various remote locations from Thursday 19 March 2020, except for certain business critical roles
- We have the technology platforms and IT infrastructure in place that ensures our people remain connected and can collaborate, allowing us to continue to provide leading support and advice to our customers
Meetings, travel and events
- All face-to-face meetings with customers are continuing as normal and can be conducted via phone and digital alternatives if preferred
- All forums, workshops, seminars and events being hosted at NHP offices have been postponed
- All travel has been suspended unless deemed business critical and approved by company leadership
Elevated office hygiene practices
- The importance of appropriate hygiene practices has been reinforced to our people
- As per government guidelines, NHP office cleaners have been instructed to focus on ensuring that areas utilised by our people and visitors are disinfected daily (as a minimum) and more regularly in high traffic areas.
These measures have been implemented to support the wellbeing of our people, ensure continued reliable service to customers and to reduce community transmission of COVID-19. These measures are being continuously reviewed and updated.
In relation to our continued business operations, COVID-19 has resulted in global supply chains being significantly affected, slowing the transportation of goods within certain countries and affecting global transport into and out of countries. To date, all facets of transport operations are being impacted – road, rail, air and sea.
NHP is completing daily analyses of local and global supply chain impacts and conducting ongoing assessments of our supply chain operations. Whilst NHP has a significant stock holding across our branch network and is confident of our ability to continue to supply as required, this may not be possible in all cases. At present, it will not be possible to provide precise date availability for in-transit shipments and arrivals due to the evolving supply chain situation resulting from COVID-19.
NHP continues to closely monitor developments and will act decisively in the best interests of our people and customers. For many customers, this is a highly disruptive and uncertain time and our team is here to assist you in navigating this unprecedented situation. We appreciate that some of you may have queries and we encourage you to reach out to your key NHP contact to answer any questions that you may have.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your understanding and cooperation during this challenging time.