Sellafield bosses defend ‘stay out of Cumbria’ message
Last updated at 11:56, Thursday, 03 December 2009
Sellafield bosses have defended their decision to ask workers from partner sites in the UK to stay away from Cumbria to help its flood recovery.
Related: Sellafield boss told staff to stay away to help Cumbria recover from floods
In a statement, Sellafield Limited insisted that it had simply advised the workforce to give “careful consideration” to travelling between its sites at Risley, Capenhurst and Sellafield.
The response came after the News & Star obtained a copy of a memo sent by the plant’s second in command, George Beveridge.
It tells staff: “The Sellafield Ltd executive has therefore taken the decision to stop all travel from Risley and Capenhurst to Sellafield/West Cumbria until after the New Year.”
The Sellafield statement said bridge closures in west Cumbria had placed an added strain on the road network, increasing congestion and the chances of an accident.
The response continued: “The safety of our people is of paramount importance to us at any time, and travelling on the roads, particularly when they are so heavily congested, is a serious safety concern.
“This notice does not ban travel between the sites; it merely asks that staff look at all the alternatives before deciding that a car journey is essential.
“If travel is deemed business-critical it will be approved but where it is not we are asking the workforce to utilise things like video conferencing.
“In reality this is something that we should always do – and the difficulties currently being faced on the roads serve only to highlight this and refocus our minds.
“It is disappointing that our notice may be seen as having a detrimental effect on local businesses, particularly when we have been so passionate in our support for west Cumbria’s flood recovery programme, but the safety of our workforce is and will always be our number one priority.”
Since the floods, the statement added, Sellafield has offered financial support through its owners NMP and customers NDA. The firm has also offered support to flood-hit communities by releasing staff with skills critical to the flood recovery operation.
The statement added: “This has included project managers, communications support and labour to assist directly in cleaning up the streets. We have also co-ordinated the response from our supply chain to make sure that their help is used to gain maximum strategic benefit.”
Cumbria Tourism chief executive Ian Stephens said Mr Beveridge’s memo had not been helpful. Cumbria should be sending out a message that the county remains open for business, he added.
First published at 11:23, Thursday, 03 December 2009
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk
And before you ask how is congestion a safety issue to the public or the workforce you wouldn't be saying that if you were in need of one of the emergency services.
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And just to clarify...I never said anything about Barrow. I meant non-essential staff from outside Cumbria. Such as Capenhurst and Risley. Read the article. Eeesh.
Posted by Ross Kobak on 4 December 2009 at 16:25