News and Updates

2020 has seen unprecedented demand for PPE, and at Arco we've implemented changes at pace to ensure we deliver on our core purpose, to keep people safe. As a business, we've done everything in our power to ensure continuity of supply for our customers during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article offers a look behind the scenes to demonstrate what we've been doing for our colleagues. Jo Heselton, our Group Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) Manager outlined the steps we took as a business to protect our workforce during the pandemic.

Responding at Pace to Official Advice

From the start of the pandemic, the Safety, Health and Environment team constantly anticipated and followed advice from all relevant bodies, including the Government, Public Health England, the NHS and World Health Organisation (WHO) to ensure we operate in-line with the latest advice.

Assessing the Risk and Implementing Control Measures

Arco conducted thorough risk assessments for all our sites and implemented the suggested control measures immediately to prevent the risk of spreading the virus, and to protect our colleagues. Floor decals and signage were installed to support social distancing, hygiene advice posters were fitted and following Government advice, colleagues were advised to wear face coverings whilst moving around, or in communal areas. We installed hand sanitiser stations across our sites as well as one-way movement systems around buildings and protective barrier screens (where appropriate). Shift patterns were reviewed at our National Distribution Centre to leave 30-minute gaps between shifts to reduce exposure and contact. Enhanced cleaning regimes were established, with areas being cleaned on an hourly rota as well as a full deep clean each evening. We continue to monitor our cleaning processes with the introduction of fogging and surface swabbing in November to determine the efficacy of our cleaning protocols. In addition to steps taken at our sites, face masks and hand sanitiser packages were sent to all employees' homes to protect them and their families.

Communicating Change

With over 1600 employees, communication is vital to advise colleagues of new procedures as well as listening to their own queries, suggestions and concerns and addressing these.

"The most important factor was keeping our colleagues up to date with the latest advice as well as opening a dialogue for colleagues to express concerns to us."

Arco has a dedicated internal comms team which has shared tailored advice for colleagues across all sites, with specific information relevant to their team and way of working.

All updates were shared via email, as well as a dedicated Coronavirus information point on Arco's intranet. The comms team created accessible guides for colleagues with disabilities, as well as translating information for employees whose first language isn't English. Guides were also specifically prepared for colleagues to share with friends and family and Managing Director, David Evison, provided several updates via video link.

Working from Home

Preparations and planning for colleagues working from home began in March, with over 100 laptops purchased prior to Matt Hancock's "work from home if you can" speech to the commons.

Arco's infrastructure team rapidly implemented new remote working technologies, ensuring there was no disruption for customers with colleagues able to work from home. In just 2 weeks, an additional 200 new laptops were sourced, configured and delivered to colleagues working from home alongside monitors, headsets, keyboard/mouse sets, power adapters and network cables.

By the end of March, virtually all office staff were working remotely. 4G Wireless access points and contracts were arranged for colleagues without a suitable home connection, and we have developed an ongoing scheme enabling colleagues to request additional kit, including desks and chairs, to enable them to work from home effectively and safely.

Getting Back to Work

Once retail stores were permitted to reopen, we ran a one-week re-boarding for retail staff, pausing, and taking the time to ensure that the correct procedures were in place to protect colleagues and customers. A member of the SHE team also conducted separate phone calls with all 43 retail stores to enable a virtual COVID secure check before re-opening.

All colleagues returning to Arco sites will be required to be re-boarded back to the business, to ensure we can continue to operate safely, and in turn keep our customers safe.

Colleague Wellbeing

Arco recognises the challenges that come with working from home including caring for dependents, home schooling and balancing work and personal life. Mental health and wellbeing have always been a priority, but this was a priority once colleagues were no longer physically working together.

Arco already had 100 trained mental health first aiders spread across all areas of the business. Jo commented "implementing our mental first aiders scheme was a big focus for us last year and they've been brilliant at supporting colleagues throughout the pandemic, listening signposting them to information and further support." Arco keeps its wellbeing hub updated with mindfulness tips, FAQs, and contact information from our Occupational Health Advisors, Health Assured with our Employee Assistance Programme offering confidential phone-line support, a service which is available to all Arco colleagues as well as immediate family.

What Arco Has Learned, and What's in Store for the Future

As Health and Safety experts, colleague as well as customer wellbeing is something we take very seriously, and we ensure one does not come at the cost of the other.

We are constantly updating our policies in-line with the latest advice to help keep colleagues safe. With a new head office under construction in Blackfriargate, Hull, we're designing office layouts and work rotas to ensure that social distancing can be maintained when the government advises it's safe to return to working from a shared facility.

SHP have announced Arco as the winners of their award for the Most Influential Team in Health & Safety.

The award recognises the team that has worked together most effectively to improve occupational health, safety and/or workplace wellbeing within the industry, society or in health & safety profession more widely.

Arco was chosen as the winner from a list of six finalists for SHP's Most Influential Team Award, by the SHP Awards judging panel.

Arco's NDC2 became operational on 10 February 2020. On 11 March the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic and a week later the UK went into lockdown. PPE was in short supply and while the government looked to solve the stock shortage - Arco, with critical worker status, got to work fast, ensuring the National Distribution Centre was fully operational and, importantly, that it was COVID-secure.

Arco chartered 10 aircraft and 35 special airfreight shipments full of vital equipment and their operations team went from a 24/5 working pattern to 24/7 in less than two days to manage increased customer demand. The team successfully distributed 300 pallets a day with 8,000 parcels, distributing over 140m face masks, 18m gloves, over 0.5m coveralls and 0.5m hygiene products.

The judges also called out the leading work which Arco's Quality Assurance team undertake at their independently accredited laboratory, with the team identifying non-compliant PPE and educating other bodies. The panel noted this is something that Arco have been relentless about even pre-pandemic. Arco experts sit on a number of key committees including the BSI British Standards, CEN European Standards Committee and the ISO International Standards Organisation who work tirelessly to uphold the standards of the profession and raise awareness around the dangers of fake PPE, including encouraging those in need of critical supplies to ask for the correct supporting documentation and providing advice on how to do so.

Arco continues to play a leading role advising and supporting public bodies, as well as customers in critical industries, on the testing and supply of quality PPE. Arco has recently submitted a 10-point Position Paper following its own experiences during the COVID-19 crisis and the lessons learned, focussing on the need for better coordination and engagement with external stakeholders, including suppliers and those procuring equipment across the UK safety industry.

Alongside its commitment to supply customers with PPE over the course of the pandemic, the judging panel picked up how Arco has donated pallets of hygiene products to a local charity working with residents, community groups and local businesses to alleviate food and fuel poverty, particularly prevalent over the last 6 months. The company also recently announced a £250,000 donation to the National Emergencies Trust to help support future national disasters, as well as 42 grants of £1,000 donated to local charities nominated by Arco colleagues.

Neil Griffiths, Divisional Director of Logistics said:

"We are delighted to be honoured with SHP's award for the Most Influential Team in Health and Safety. The response from our logistics team throughout the pandemic has been tremendous. They have worked tirelessly, working additional shifts, weekends and bank holidays with COVID-secure measures to ensure we were able to protect our customers and front-line responders. This award and the recognition is truly a testament to their dedication to keep people safe.bThank you to SHP, the judges, HSE and IATP for your comments and for the acknowledgement of Arco's work."

David Evison, Managing Director said:

"Receiving this award is a great honour for Arco, and recognises both the expertise and the contribution that we have made throughout the pandemic. Our expertise is evidenced throughout every stage of the PPE supply chain and I've been impressed by the way the whole company has worked together. Colleagues have gone the extra mile to keep people safe and support local communities. Our thanks to SHP for endorsing our work to keep people safe, guide the Health and Safety industry and support the communities which we operate in."

With the Government's response to the Covid-19 pandemic coming under growing parliamentary scrutiny, Arco, the UK's leading provider of personal protective equipment (PPE), has published a Position Paper: Personal Protective Equipment and the Government's Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic. With a right and responsibility to comment, Arco's report offers insight into their experiences dealing with Government bodies and other agencies as part of the PPE supply chain. It proposes a 10-point set of recommendations to prevent a repeat of the high-profile issues that were seen during the first wave of the crisis and to ensure the country is better protected in any future pandemic.

With over 135 years of safety experience, its own UKAS-accredited product assurance lab, a 400,000 sqft National Distribution Centre and a team based in China, Hull-based Arco has been at the forefront of the most significant recent global emergencies, including the response to both SARS and Ebola outbreaks. When the Covid-19 pandemic was declared in the UK, the company played a key role in the response, navigating the global supply chain restrictions that led to an international shortage of certain types of PPE. Arco's product and supply chain specialists worked quickly to source, procure and distribute over 140 million face masks, 18 million gloves, over 50,000 coveralls and 5,000,000 hygiene products to the NHS, ambulance services, other public health bodies, local authorities and critical industries.

The first stage of the crisis saw a severe global shortage of PPE at a time of exceptional demand and a poor centrally coordinated response. Early in the pandemic there were many examples of a broken supply chain with frontline workers left without critical PPE. A number of suppliers, like Arco, were holding stock but unable to work with the Government and its agents to supply PPE where it was needed the most. More recently, a National Audit Office Report has highlighted examples of PPE supply contracts being awarded opaquely to organisations with no history of PPE manufacture and supply, who were ultimately unable to fulfil orders. In some cases, non-compliant products were supplied that increased the risks to the public, care home staff and NHS workers. Much money was spent unnecessarily.

To address these issues and ensure future preparedness, Arco has developed a set of recommendations based on its experiences during 2020, set out in its Position Paper.

Key Highlights Include:

1. Registration of competent PPE suppliers to be allowed to supply Cat II and Cat III products, ensuring product compliance and quality. The Department of Health and Social Care to conduct a thorough review and stress test of its systems from the perspective of suppliers and buyers.
2. Reform of the Government's purchasing portal to screen out unsuitable, or unqualified, companies.
3. An education programme to upskill NHS Trusts, local authorities and care home procurement officers in how to understand PPE standards and source and purchase suitable equipment.
4. The Government to publish a roadmap for the full reimplementation of the PPE Regulations, to reduce the likelihood of poor quality or ineffective products entering the UK.

Thomas Martin, Arco's Chairman said:

"2020 will be a year that none of us forget. It has been a year of sadness and uncertainty for so many people. Our core purpose is to help keep people safe and we responded immediately the pandemic was declared, working 24/7 to help make sure those at the frontline of the response were properly protected.

From the outset, we were both frustrated with the procurement system and deeply concerned by some of the simple mistakes made across the UK through a lack of experience of procuring the PPE needed. The NAO report and findings very much reflect this experience. As an established safety business, we feel it's our duty to report on our experiences and to support the Government in continuing to help deal with the pandemic. We urge the Government to act on our recommendations to ensure we can all be better prepared for any future emergencies."

See the full report.

Arco Professional Safety Services has joined forces with the Jubilee Sailing Trust (JST) with free consultancy on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and training since 2017. The Trust runs inclusive adventures at sea, including day sails and voyages from its tall ship, SV Tenacious, the only sea-going ship in the world designed, built and sailed by a mixed-ability crew. As a charity, the JST is reliant on donations to run its uniquely accessible ship that can be sailed by a truly diverse crew, including those with disabilities, mental health conditions, long-term health issues and the socially isolated.

Arco Professional Safety Services, like the JST, places the wellbeing and safety of its people at the forefront of its culture and is delighted to help facilitate such a laudable mission by sharing expertise and equipment. Arco Professional Safety Services has focused on essential working at height training for the charity's permanent crew, as well as consultancy on the equipment used, storage, inspections and rescue provision. Arco Professional Safety Services has adapted its service to cater for the unique features of the ship that make it accessible to all, from the wheelchair lifts and wide decks to guidance tracks for people with visual impairments.

Ben, a member of JST's voyage crew who is paralysed from the chest down feared the journey would be too much, said:

"That all changed when I hoisted myself out of my wheelchair up the main mast to the lookout point. When I got to the top absolutely shattered, I heard the whole ship cheer and when I sat there taking in the breath-taking view everything suddenly seemed to click. Gone was the negativity and the constant "I can't do this" rattling around my head."

Sally, a Vision Rehabilitation Specialist and member of JST's voyage crew, said:

"For me physically climbing the mast, jumping off the side of the ship, negotiating the top bunk, and human guiding in sometimes exceptional circumstances; pushed me to extend my own ideas of what I thought I could manage."

Mike Clayton, Equipment Department Manager at Arco Professional Safety Services, said:

"Everyone deserves a safe place to live and work. Arco Professional Safety Services will continue to support the safe operation of the world's only sea-going accessible tall ship, crucial for delivering inclusive adventures that leave attendees feeling liberated to explore their ability, potential and place in the world."

Arco the UK's leading safety company, is supporting local charity, EMS by donating stock to help the charity in its mission to tackle food and fuel poverty in Yorkshire.

The partnership between Arco and EMS began in early 2020. Throughout the lockdown period, Darren Williamson, Arco's Hygiene Product and Procurement Manager, delivered stock from Arco to EMS to ensure those in need received essential hygiene items. Arco has donated several pallets of hygiene products, including 1x pallet of shower gel sachets, 1x pallet of deodorants and 2x pallets of toothpaste, which EMS supplied to the local community.

Following the initial wave of donations, EMS reached out to Arco to see if it could help with Christmas boxes for vulnerable residents and community groups. As soon as COVID-19 guidelines permitted a socially distanced visit, John Pickles, EMS Community Growing Coordinator, visited Arco's Waverley Street HQ to meet the team involved and collect the remaining pallets.

John Pickles, Community Growing Coordinator at EMS, said:

"We are absolutely thrilled to be able to collect this kind donation from Arco. These hygiene products will be put into packs and distributed to people in Hull during the Christmas period. Arco helped us earlier in the year by providing items that were urgently needed during lockdown. We are delighted to be able to extend our partnership with them and we will ensure that these new products go to residents in Hull who need them most."

Darren Williamson, Hygiene Category Manager at Arco, said:

"Statistics have shown that over half of low-income families in the UK have struggled to pay for three or more basic essentials since the COVID-19 outbreak. We're grateful for the opportunity to take part in the circular economy and make a difference to those who need aid the most."