4:55 pm, April 17, 2020
Vauxhall is carrying out increased safety preparations at its Ellesmere Port site as it looks to resume vehicle production.
Although it closed on March 17, the Cheshire plant stayed ‘active’, putting in more than 100 new safety measures.
The Unite union has now been invited by the factory’s management team to carry out a last review of the protocols before manufacturing can begin again.
A restart date has yet to be confirmed, but Vauxhall says that it is assessing it week by week.
The measures include checking employees’ temperatures on top of self-monitoring symptoms. In addition, the protection afforded by compulsory safety glasses is being bolstered by a supply of masks every day, with social distancing also being enforced – break areas now have floor markings to show the right spacing, while doors other than fire doors are being kept open to avoid touching handles. Work surfaces and tools are also being frequently cleaned.
Ellesmere Port is where Vauxhall makes the Astra – more than 60,000 of the hatchback rolled off the production lines last year.
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