Rank: Forum user 
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Following the Red Weather Warning last week across the UK and specifically across the central belt of Scotland, my business is reviewing the decisions made regarding continuing operations through the period the red weather warning was in place. Can I ask any other manufacturing businesses what your experience was / policy is?
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Rank: Super forum user 
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As public transport was suspended and every "competent" organisation was advising against travel our Scottish operations shut for the day. Its not fair on employees or customers to insist on travel against advice and it is very unfair to then expect the emergency services to have to deal with poor decision making when they could already have enough on their plate.
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 2 users thanked Roundtuit for this useful post.
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Rank: Super forum user
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As public transport was suspended and every "competent" organisation was advising against travel our Scottish operations shut for the day. Its not fair on employees or customers to insist on travel against advice and it is very unfair to then expect the emergency services to have to deal with poor decision making when they could already have enough on their plate.
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2 users thanked Roundtuit for this useful post.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Hi dengland Your profile indicates that you are in the West of Scotland so you presumably experienced similar conditions to those of us living in Glasgow and surrounding areas. According to Wikipedia when the storm hit the Central Belt in mid January 1968, 20 people were killed, nine of them in Glasgow with another 30 then dying during the works needed to restore damaged buildings etc. This time the death toll appears to have been two, one in the Republic of Ireland. Construction H&S standards have improved significantly since 1968 so we shouldn't get a similar impact after the Storm as then, though no doubt some will still be cutting corners. Can't speak for manufacturing, but I was slightly (pleasantly) surprised when I got an email from Tesco to say that all their stores in the area would be closed on Friday BEFORE it had been confirmed that there would be neither trains nor buses running on the day. Which would mean that people would either need to drive to work or use active travel - fine(ish) if you live perhaps within a mile or so of the factory you work in. Otherwise would it be socially responsible to have your workforce trying to make it to work in circumstances where they are likely to exacerbate the workload of the Emergency Services which could be predicted to be stretched if the weather turned up to be anything like as bad as had been predicted? What sort of reputational risk is your business prepared to accept? How about this news........ "After XYZ Manufacturing Ltd had made the decision NOT to close for the day when the red weather warning was in place, Mrs Jane Smith attemped to drive to work but her car was struck by a falling tree. Police, firefighters and paramedics rushed to the scene and were able to rescue Mrs Smith and take her to hospital where her condition is described as stable. However, one fire engine was toppled by the wind and two firefighters were pronounced dead at the scene." "A spokesperson for XYZ said that 'the Safety of our Workforce is always our No 1 priority."
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1 user thanked peter gotch for this useful post.
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Rank: Forum user
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2 users thanked Mirin for this useful post.
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Rank: Forum user
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Thanks for the feedback. Our shift pattern is such that the majority of employees who were in were travelling outwith the time the red warning was in force. We will be reviewing our response next week and this is valuable insight. Cheers.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Hi dengland Perhaps worth noting that my understanding is that the two people who died in Storm Eowyn in the UK and Ireland were travelling when the warning was at AMBER rather than RED level. However, even if these people and others had made it to work before it was RED and would still be at work until the warning receded back to AMBER, you also have to consider what happens if there is a site emergency when the warning is at RED level. Can your organisation manage all emergencies that might happen without needing to further stretch the Emergency Services at a time of stretched capacity? OR does your need to call out one or more Emergency Services mean that they are diverted to your site and cannot go to help out John Smith somewhere else? Perhaps a little less likely to adversely impact your reputation but suppose the questions are asked "Why did it take the Emergency Services 3 hours to get to John Smith?" and the answer comes back "Because we were dealing with a broken leg or fire at XYZ Manufacturing Ltd who had chosen to work through the RED warning" there are going to be some very difficult questions for your PR people to deal with.
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1 user thanked peter gotch for this useful post.
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Rank: Super forum user
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a few years back I provided our BCP with weather warning levels aligned to the colour levels - which helped with some guidance almost like a lockdown but for weather (I also have one for pandemics)...I know there is emotion here but unless there is a clear absolute need to be present then I would say stay at home...it doesn't reflect bacdly and the BCP should be put in effect to deal with manufacturing/ product output etc...
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