11:09 am, May 18, 2020
Ford started manufacturing again today (May 18) at its engine plants in Dagenham and Bridgend.
It follows the plant in Valencia restarting production earlier this month and means the entire European production facilities are back at work.
The Dagenham and Bridgend factories closed towards the end of March, although some employees had been working at UK sites in recent weeks to ensure critical services continued to be provided.
Graham Hoare, chairman of Ford of Britain, said: ‘As we return to work at our two engine plants in the UK, our key priority is the implementation of Ford’s global standards on social distancing and strengthened health and safety protocols to safeguard the well-being of our workforce.’
The health and safety measures include people using a Ford-provided face mask when they enter one of the plants, as well as a face shield in places where the social distancing rule isn’t practical.
Everyone will also have their body temperature checked using a scanner, and employees will carry out a daily wellness self-assessment.
A redesign of work areas is being carried out to ensure social-distancing guidelines are adhered to, and the return to work is being phased to lower employee density.
Some 2,000 Jaguar Land Rover workers went back to work at the Solihull factory on May 11, and its engine plant in Wolverhampton began seeing ‘a gradual revamp” of staff numbers last week as well.
Meanwhile, a number of Aston Martin manufacturing staff have begun a phased return to work at its St Athan plant. Production workers at its global HQ in Gaydon are to follow at a later date, as will office and support staff at its other sites in the UK.
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