Markham College - What can a School do to protect staff and students from COVID-19?

The COVID-19 pandemic has had extreme effects on almost all organisations - Markham College has been no exception. The mandatory closure of schools in Peru has meant that for over 18 months students have been studying online while a once lively campus that was the heart of the Markham community was quickly closed and few people have managed to enter since then.

This sudden change required a quick adaptation to the new health and sanitation measures provided by the government, ensuring the maintenance team’s own safety as well as that of any other visitor to the school.

So in practice, what has that actually meant?

New investment in safety measures

The College has had to develop a “COVID-19 Prevention and Control Plan and a Biosecurity Protocol” that complies with all the requirements that both MINSA and MINEDU demand. This has meant a classification of job types and a risk assessment for each, as well as providing the appropriate personnel biosafety implements.

The school has also set up new sanitary stations consisting of pedal-operated sinks, gel dispensers, informative signs, physical distancing measures, compulsory face mask use and signage on the floors and walls.

The number of people allowed both in open and closed spaces has changed, and the location of every single desk has been marked to ensure the required distance is kept.

A group of permanent nurses has been recruited in both campuses who are responsible for the daily registration and temperature control, as well as handing out face masks, amongst others. The College is also supported by an Occupational Doctor.

In addition, a monthly service specialised in disinfection and fumigation against COVID-19 has been hired to sanitise the entire school. The maintenance personnel have received cleanliness training focused on the current requirements to ensuring they are protecting their own health as well as the health of anyone who enters the school

How did the maintenance staff adapt to the new normal?

The implementation of these new measures has meant a dramatic change in the year plan as well as in the school’s budget. A quick turnaround was required to implement the new protocols and ensure the campuses remained safe, clean and disinfected, whilst the regular maintenance jobs carried on.

During the first few months, the maintenance team had to learn how to remotely manage the work. To ensure both campuses remain sanitised, the support staff have eventually been able to return part-time and with reduced hours.

Vendors also had to be managed as it wasn’t possible to have several of them working at the same time. The school demanded they follow the security protocols at all times as well as present their negative COVID results to be allowed to enter the school.

The biggest challenges

Staff safety was the number one challenge during these times. The maintenance staff were the first ones to return to the campuses to maintain the areas clean. To protect them, they were offered workshops, had to undergo COVID testing as well as a new schedule was prepared to ensure there were as few staff as possible at any set time so the risk of potential contagion would be minimal.

In addition, efficiently combining their workload and that of the vendors whilst keeping within the (reduced) budget was particularly challenging.

The organisation within the Logistics and Maintenance team to ensure there was enough flexibility to adapt to the continuous changes, to the requests from the authorities and speed to comply with the workload within the set timeline.

The team needed to constantly coordinate with other departments to organise activities such as delivering and receiving school supplies as well as attend to any unexpected needs.

How has the expenditure changed with the quarantine?

There have been some savings but also new expenses to adapt to the new security requirements. Some savings were made from utilities and maintenance work for the buildings, furniture and office equipment which have not been necessary at this time (e.g. painting the classrooms, desks and chairs maintenance, soap, paper towels etc.).

A new budget was developed specifically to comply with the requirements set by the COVID Surveillance, Prevention and Control Plan. New acquisitions included portable and permanent sinks, gel dispensers, signage, specific cleaning supplies, face masks, gloves, face masks, glasses, aprons, thermometers, COVID tests, etc. Certified workshops were provided as well as regular fumigation and disinfection for the campuses.

What’s next?

In August, we start the process of developing the 2022 budget and we’d like to think that we will all meet again next March. To this end, we will have a new budget that will include the total preventative works and some projects which we have started to coordinate with each section of the school.

We’re hopeful that the government will allow students to return, albeit in a part-time way. The school feels empty and the buzzing campus life is something everyone, from students to teachers to maintenance workers, wish to experience once more.