Xalient is aware of the concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Xalient’s Business Continuity Plan (BCP) already caters for pandemic viruses and subsequent illness, however in light of the current status of the COVID-19 pandemic, our BCP has been appended with additional contingency measures.
Xalient will continue to monitor the events pertaining to the situation and will adjust our BCP further should the need arise. We also have plans in place for our own employee safety and recognise that staffing levels could become reduced as a result of the virus.
Xalient is taking a number of precautions in our offices but also in our approach to managing our day to day business. By following best-practice guidelines issued by Public Health England (PHE), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO); we have summarised our precautions below:
1. We have provided knowledge and guidance to all staff regarding COVID-19, detailing:
a. A brief on the signs and symptoms of the virus
b. Details on how the virus is spread
c. Personal prevention methods to avoid the spread of the virus
d. Advice on what to do if they or one of their immediate family or friends contract the virus
2. Xalient is encouraging staff, suppliers and customers to use conferencing facilities such as Skype or Microsoft Teams, wherever possible, as opposed to non-essential travel and face-to-face meetings. We are also asking staff to avoid close contact throughout the outbreak should meetings need to be held in person.
3. We are enhancing daily cleaning regimes within our offices, including public areas within our remit, and have asked that particular attention is focussed on areas in frequent contact by hand such as doors and cupboards, drawers, taps, showers, WC rooms and meeting areas.
4. We have provided hand sanitiser products throughout our offices, and individually to all staff, as well as anti-bacterial wipes. We have urged our teams to use these for themselves and within their areas of operation.
5. We are implementing a pandemic communications strategy which includes working closely with customers and suppliers to ensure that their own risk mitigation strategies are implemented and offering guidance wherever possible. Should our customers or suppliers wish to use Xalient’s precautions themselves, we are happy to share any and all details of our contingency strategies pertaining to the situation.
If a person within an office in Xalient’s control becomes infected with COVID-19, the Xalient Business Continuity team will call a crisis meeting to decide upon further actions and seek advice from a health centre local to the office affected. All such instances will be treated with urgency and on a case by case basis.
We are asking staff showing any symptomatic signs of any Coronavirus (not only COVID-19) such as fever, sneezing, coughing and other respiratory distress to call a non-emergency medical health helpline in the country they are located and to self-isolate for 14 days.
We will also escalate any suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported within Xalient to the local health authorities.
Xalient will continue to monitor updates to the PHE, CDC and WHO websites and update our customers, suppliers and staff should there be any changes to our mitigation or contingency practices surrounding the situation.
Updates can be found on this page dedicated to the COVID-19 outbreak.
19/03/2020: With both the UK and US Government recommending working from home to prevent exposure and further spread of the COVID-19 virus, Xalient have invoked the next stage of our Business Continuity Plan and requested that all staff work from their home offices. Xalient are effectively geared up for every business function to operate on a homeworking basis and, rest assured, business will continue as usual.
To further assess and mitigate any risks associated with the ongoing pandemic, the Xalient Compliance team are working with our supply chain and any partners that underpin our services to understand their own Business Continuity statements and associated strategies.
This assessment will also extend to a review of all customer locations that we may potentially need to provide engineer visits to, and understanding each of our customer’s risks and considerations for those locations. This work is comprehensive and will ensure we understand the wider impact and any risks to our customer’s services in advance. Once completed, this allows Xalient to work with our partners and customers to mitigate those risks wherever necessary.
Public Health England (UK):
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-list-of-guidance
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US):
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/index.html
World Health Organisation (Global):
https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus
