Three Network Rail High Speed stations receive Certificate of Assurance from Bureau Veritas for Covid-19 risk management

Listen to this article

The Churchill Group manages cleaning and hygiene at St Pancras International, Stratford and Ebbsfleet.

Soft service provider Churchill Group is delighted to announce that St Pancras International, Stratford and Ebbsfleet rail stations have all received Certificates of Assurance from Bureau Veritas for exceptional cleaning and hygiene standards that have helped to minimise the risk posed by Covid-19.

All three stations are managed by Network Rail High Speed (NRHS) and were the only stations in its network to receive the certificates. Churchill has worked with NRHS since 2017 to deliver cleaning, janitorial and pest control services. It has ramped up its work since the start of the pandemic to implement the highest standard of cleaning and hygiene services.

Bureau Veritas is a world leader in testing, inspection and certification and helps its clients improve the quality of their health and safety, environmental protection and social responsibility practices.

Each assessment has two stages – a support system assessment and site assessment. All stations passed both assessments with just a handful of suggested improvements. Bureau Veritas highlighted a number of Churchill processes for the successful assessments, including:

  • Churchill’s workplace and hygiene programme PRISM, particularly in determining cleaning regime requirements, and it’s implementation and use by staff
  • The use of washroom sensor technology
  • The ground-breaking systems, via Churchill’s digital platform Mo:dus, that uses QR scanning to show both proof of clean and proof of presence
  • Innovations around UVD robot integration and electrostatic use to support the elimination of bacteria
  • Touch point cleaning every two hours, which is twice as often as WHO guidelines

Greg Dingle, London regional director at the Churchill Group, said: “We’re delighted with the Bureau Veritas certificates as they provide independent assurance to both the general public and station employees that we have excellent health and hygiene protocols in place. The successful assessments are a result of our collaborative approach with Network Rail High Speed since the very start of our partnership. The certificates are also testament to all of the Churchill employees that have worked diligently throughout the pandemic to ensure that the stations are safe for others to use.”

Jay Khan, head of passenger strategy at Network Rail High Speed, said: “We recognise that the public will want reassurance before they visit busy transport hubs that they are safe, and these certificates do exactly that. Churchill has been an invaluable partner throughout the pandemic and we look forward to implementing further innovations that ensure best-in-class hygiene practices at our High Speed stations.”

The certificates are valid for six months at which point NRHS is expected to undergo another assessment, which will again be supported by Churchill.

Photo credit: iStockphoto.com

Latest Rail News

HS2 moves 1,100-tonne viaduct in weekend operation

HS2 has released timelapse and drone footage showing contractors moving a 1,100 tonne composite viaduct into place over two...

More like this...