South Tyneside shipbuilder A&P carrying out essential work to keep military and civilian operations afloat under strict safety rules

A&P Group, which runs A&P Tyne in Hebburn, has put a number of stringent measures in place at all three of its UK sites, allowing them to remain operational during lockdown.

Thanks to the measures – which have included setting up dedicated Covid-19 management team – A&P has been able to continue essential ship repair and maintenance works for the Ministry of Defence, Royal Fleet Auxiliary and Seaborne asset community.

And now A&P bosses have offered reassurance to customers that its Covid-19 measures will remain in place, as some Government coronavirus restrictions are lifted.

David McGinley, Chief Executive Officer of Cammell Laird Ship Repairers and Shipbuilders and Atlantic & Peninsula Marine Services, said: “A&P Group’s number one priority has always been to safeguard the safety of our staff, customers and sub-contractors but in the face of the unprecedented challenge of Covid-19, it has required even more rigorous checks and practices to ensure our vital work can continue.

“The alignment of the whole of the maritime industry will be necessary if we are to minimise the long-term impact of Covid-19 and ensure we can meet the needs of our customers.”

During the pandemic, A&P Group says it has continued to deliver complex, large scale projects with minimum disruption to labour.

At A&P Tyne, the team has completed the installation of cable repair equipment to Prysmian’s North Sea Giant at A&P Tyne, which is essential to the safe and continuous power of the National Grid.

A&P Tyne has also carried out vital mobilisation work for Global Marine’s Normand Clipper and its on- site fabrication division has continued its work on Dreadnought, Boat 1 and 2 on behalf of BAE Systems.

Its coronavirus measures have seen A&P set up a dedicated Covid-19 management team which reviews its Covid-19 procedures each day to ensure it continuously improves its safety policies for the virus.

As part of this Daily Directors Safety Tours are carried out across all sites to gain feedback to improve daily working practice and protect the workforce.:

Meanwhile full Covid-19 contingency plans are also in place across all three facilities.

Enhanced cleaning and hygiene activities, issue of appropriate PPE and enforced social distancing measures are also carried out across all sites.

Measures also include full customer, sub-contractor, contractor Covid-19 risk assessment and enforcement of strict checks to ensure UK and international contractors are compliant with Government guidance.

David added: “At A&P, our rigorous risk assessments, pre-planning and ongoing communication with customers and ship staff have ensured we can limit the risk of the virus entering our facilities and minimum disruption to vessels as they arrive at our sites.“Customers can be assured that they face minimum disruption when visiting our facilities as we’ve found effective ways to safeguard our workforce and customers whilst continuing to deliver essential projects.”

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