Covid-19 Update – The position in Australia (As at 13th August 2020) 

Like most countries Australia has a number of Covid-19 lockdown measures in place.

All cafes/bars/restaurants/gyms/pools, most retail shops (Other than supermarkets) and sporting events are closed or are operating on a restricted basis depending on their location.

Certain industries are able to operate as ” Essential Services”.

At this time we are able to advise it is a “qualified” BUSINESS AS USUAL for OSS as we are able to operate under the Freight and Logistics Exemption, this includes in Melbourne and State of Victoria most of which is currently in Stage 4 Lockdown.

OSS are able to perform all normal functions, but some may be modified.

EXPORTS
– Surveys in home (by video if client prefers and for any Melbourne surveys)
– Packing and uplift (See comments below)
– Delivery to residence (See comments below)

IMPORTS
– Collection from Port
– Customs and Quarantine Clearances
– Delivery to residence (See comments below)

Having said that, in Australia we have a number of measures in place to address the COVID-19 situation, which include:

  • We are actively monitoring the daily health status of all employees through temperature checks, a series of health-related questions and providing sanitary  solutions for all staff. Our policy requires any employees showing any sign of sickness to stay home. Employees who have symptoms of an acute respiratory illness will be required to stay home until they are fever and symptom free for at least 24 hours and provide a medical certificate from their doctor before
    returning to the workplace.
  • We have implemented a work from home program for many staff to ensure the social distancing within our offices for those remaining in the office
  • We are limiting and practicing social distancing and avoiding unnecessary physical interaction with customers. This can include keeping physical contact to a minimum (avoid handshakes, etc) and requesting customers to maintain social distancing (minimum 1.5 metres) from the crews.
  • We also request customers limit the number of people in the residence at the time of uplift or delivery so only one customer is interacting with our crew and others remain outside the premises or in other parts of the residence not being entered by our crew.
  • With severe and/or Stage 4 Lockdowns like in Melbourne at the moment we also may not be able to perform complete unpacking of cartons as interaction with customers and time spent at the residence must be kept to an absolute minimum. Please advise your clients accordingly, otherwise we will be placed in a difficult position balancing client expectations and the welfare of our crews, with the latter being paramount.Should customers not be accepting of this requirement, it may be that we will be unable to perform uplift or delivery.
  • We require all employees to adopt frequent hand-washing and other sanitary measures. We have provided all staff with these means including hand sanitiser in all company vehicles.
  • We are performing increased cleaning and disinfecting of all frequently touched surfaces in our offices, warehouses, and trucks.
  • We are ensuring crews are equipped with gloves or masks, as needed.

Generally speaking the effect of a general lockdown presents more challenges than usual and these are being dealt with as they arise, maintaining our Customer Service focus at all times. Shipping line freight services are less reliable than usual as the lines endeavour to deal with the changed pattern of commercial freight movements globally over the past couple of months. Airfreight services are particularly limited and restricted at this time.

All of the above measures are subject to change at any time as the Federal Government and the individual State Governments grapple with the unique circumstances prevailing in Australia (and the world) due to COVID-19.

To date our Federal Government has adopted a balanced approach to dealing with COVID-19, in an attempt to control the virus spread against the need to ensure the economy is not destroyed by those control measures and other measures in place in Australia and elsewhere.

This approach has proven relatively successful to date although things are still volatile and being reviewed daily by Federal and State Governments and their Agencies. The State of Victoria (main city Melbourne) has a greater outbreak of COVID-19 than other States/Cities and whilst we are able to operate in Melbourne generally restrictions are tighter in Victoria and our earlier comments regarding in home activities need to be carefully noted.

Thank you for your ongoing support and rest assured we will do all in our power to maintain services whilst complying with the Government directives and common-sense preventative measures.