Lanes Group joins workplace COVID-19 testing programme

Image courtesy HM Government

National water utility and drainage specialist Lanes Group plc is joining a government workplace rapid testing programme to detect coronavirus (COVID-19) in people who are not showing symptoms.

The company has taken delivery of its first 6,500 free lateral flow testing kits which they will offer to frontline operatives.

The government scheme is designed to help people find if they are asymptomatic carriers of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the COVID-19 disease so its transmission can be reduced.

Kris Taylor, Head of Health, Safety, Quality, Environment and Security at Lanes Utilities, the wastewater maintenance partner for Thames Water, said: “We see this as an opportunity to support our teams.

“Providing COVID-19 testing kits gives our operational colleagues additional assurance that they are not carrying the virus. If they find they are positive, they can take the right action to protect themselves, their loved ones and others.

“As part of the programme we will also report test data, with no personal details, via a government portal, so our participation will increase knowledge about the prevalence of COVID-19 which will help combat the disease.”

Paul McParland, Group Head of Health, Safety, Environment and Quality, said colleagues were not obliged to take the test, but he hoped they would see the benefits of doing so for them and the wider community.

He added: “Our operational teams have done a great job of working right through the pandemic providing essential services relied on by businesses, public sector bodies and many millions of people across the country.

“We’ve been operating very thorough COVID-19 control procedures designed to keep our teams, their families, clients and the public safe. Rapid testing is the next step in a process, along with the vaccination programme, that we all hope will control the pandemic.”

Lanes operational colleagues will be invited to test themselves at the start and end of each week. The test is carried out simply by taking a nasal swab which, after 20 minutes in a testing solution, gives either a negative or positive result.

Studies have shown around one in three people who have coronavirus (COVID-19) have no symptoms and may be unknowingly spreading the virus.

The government wants to work with public and private sector employers to expand self-testing to identify more positive cases, so the chain of transmission is broken, safeguarding the population while the vaccine programme is being rolled out.

Lanes colleagues who test positive will be required to self-isolate for 10 days.