Conducting Business in Context of COVID-19 (Posted March 13, 2020)

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Ally’s Mode of Operation, Precautions, Information, and Impacts

 

Dear Ally Team,

As individuals, parents, family members, and professionals, the impacts of the coronavirus, both physical and economic, are of great concern to us all. The daily news of canceled events, closed public facilities, and travel restrictions prompt us to ask ourselves how to proceed.

As individuals, we each have to make the best decisions for ourselves and our families. Public health officials and governments have to set policy, take action, and lead. Businesses have to make decisions, provide leadership to their teams and respond to their client’s needs. I would like to outline Ally’s current thought process and mode of operation in the context of this fast-developing situation and provide links to two excellent data sources, one public and one private.

Our Current Mode of Operation and Thought Process – Because Ally provides our services to our clients at our client’s facilities throughout the United States, traveling safely and safely visiting our client’s sites is our priority. If we can accomplish a task without travel, we will do so. We certainly understand the practical aspects of “social distancing,” i.e., refraining from social travel, foregoing entertainment events in public spaces, refraining from traditional handshake greetings, etc. This forbearance is reasonable until more is known about the coronavirus.

With that understood, the business of our global populace, industry, and the economy, which the world depends on to provide food, shelter, social services, medical science, and medical care, has to continue its work. The challenges and impacts of halting global industry and economy would include consequences no less daunting than those of the coronavirus. Just as our dedicated medical community, public officials, and we as individuals work to mitigate the coronavirus risk, we must also mitigate risks to industry and economy, which provide us with the ability to bring the best medical science, healthcare, and economic resources to the effort to contain the coronavirus.

Public Information – The CDC website provides organized and comprehensive information on COVID-19:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

Private Information – The comprehensive Ars Technica guide to the coronavirus has done a great job of curating a tremendous amount of public information into a very easy to read summary that is updated almost daily:

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/03/dont-panic-the-comprehensive-ars-technica-guide-to-the-coronavirus/

In Summary – Ally provides our services to our clients at our client’s facilities. We have a responsibility to our clients and ourselves to operate safely within their facilities, including diligent precautions to prevent the spread of viruses. The most common way to contract or transfer the coronavirus is by touching an infected surface with your hands and transferring it with your hands to your mouth, nose, or eyes.

In this context, it is our responsibility to ourselves and others to:

  1. Stay home if you are sick, regardless of whether you have symptoms matching the coronavirus or not. As always, whether you are sick or have a pressing family need, we are all here to support each other, so trust that the team can cover for an absence due to illness or other PTO.
  2. Keep your hands away from your mouth, nose, and eyes.
  3. Wash your hands regularly and always before eating.
  4. Refrain from the traditional social handshake greeting.
  5. Cover your cough or sneeze and wash your hands immediately following.
  6. When you travel, wash and clean hands regularly, be mindful that handrails, doorknobs, and other surfaces may carry viruses, and carry sanitizing wipes and hand sanitizer with you.

As energy professionals, obviously, we are not the authority on public health, but it is essential to communicate and seek facts. I encourage you to take the time to keep well informed and avail yourselves of the excellent information on the CDC website and the Ars Technica compilation.

Thanks for all you do and your diligence in taking all due precautions. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns.