To all our listeners, extended community and musical family everywhere,
It’s no longer fresh news that the UK is heading into another national lockdown tomorrow. This announcement was made on Saturday, ironically the day we completed the build on our new temporary studio space. Over the past few days, we’ve taken the opportunity to seek advice, assess our options and plan a strategy.
With the move to our new bigger studio, our understanding of the proposed legislation, guidelines and conversations we’ve had with many people from various industries, we’ve come to a decision to keep our studio open. It is our understanding from the Health Protection (Coronavirus Regulations) (England) (No. 4) Regulations 2020, that as a non-restricted business using premises for the making of audio programming we are not required to close during this new lockdown period.
So as to minimise the risk to our staff and hosts, and in keeping with the government’s advice on working from home, we will be asking those hosts who are able to record from home to do so and only those who are unable to pre-record or broadcast from home to attend the studio.
During the first lockdown we managed to broadcast remotely – however two things became apparent. While we strived to distribute as much kit to get folks set up from home, many hosts were still unable to deliver their show and the increased workload on our small team meant that each member was, at times, considerably stretched. Going into a second lockdown, we understand that this is simply not sustainable for our hosts and our staff and as a result it is not possible for our operation to run completely remotely.
This is not a decision that has been made overnight and not one that has been made without many other precautions and procedures being put in place to ensure the utmost level of safety for all those who enter the space. We will continue to ensure we are doing everything within our remit to protect our community from coronavirus when using our studio.
Other measures that we will be putting in place and already have in place include administrative controls such as:
– Singular household shows with a maximum of 2 people, no mixing allowed.
– Encouraging hosts to walk, cycle or drive to the studio where possible and avoiding public transport.
– Vigorous clean down procedures between each show with different cleaned mic shields for each new host.
– 2.5m perspex partitions between hosts and producers.
– Compulsory wearing of masks for hosts and compulsory wearing of masks and visors for producers.
These are a short list of the procedures we put in place and a full detailed provision of our health and safety RAM’s can be requested via team@melodicdistraction.com
The decision to remain open is one that we believe is in accordance with the most recent government legislation which does not categorise broadcasting houses as a restricted business and permits premises to stay open for the purpose of making audio programming. We also believe that our decision to restrict persons permitted to attend the studio to those who cannot work from home to be in keeping with government advice and ultimately for the safety of our community.
It is important to note that due to the limited guidance available for our specific and niche industry, we are using our best judgment and understanding, while adhering to the highest Covid-19 standards to make this choice. We welcome feedback, comment and advice from anyone who may have a greater understanding or information that may help us navigate these circumstances and restrictions better.
In the safest way possible; we want to continue to provide non-stop local radio to Liverpool, the North West and beyond, whether remotely from peoples homes or from our studio for those who cannot deliver their shows from home.
|| Please Contact team@melodicdistraction.com for our full Covid-19 Safety Guidance ||