MAINTENANCE
Adapting
Safety
Protocols
Pivoting company processes
to keep staff and clients safe
Submitted by Flynn Group of Companies
As facility managers worldwide observed World
FM Day on May 13, the conversation in the
profession at the moment is, like everywhere
else, dominated by the COVID-19 outbreak.
Adapting to changing safety protocols is top of mind,
as are the implications for facility design, construction
and maintenance.
Through it all, construction companies engaged in
repair and maintenance for the most part found themselves
deemed essential and therefore exempt from
some of even the strictest lockdown situations across
the country. They were among the few industries to
face the outbreak head-on, with all the safety protocols
that has entailed.
What’s changed
Neil Winters, service manager at the Brandon office of
Flynn Group of Companies, has had a front-row seat
to some of the changing processes and their impact on
facility management and construction.
“It’s a little different now,” he said.
Indeed, at many companies not involved in food
preparation and delivery, handwashing previously
received scant procedural attention and the habit of
soldiering through a cough or cold was a badge of
honour. In the space of a few months “physical distancing”
entered popular lexicon and adults are receiving
refresher training on how to wash their hands.
Every job will see changes, including facility management
and associated trades. For repair crews at
Flynn Group of Companies, interacting with facility
PHOTO COURTESY OF FLYNN
BUILDING RURAL MANITOBA | 59