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Jamie Reed visits Sellafield to open tea bar
COPELAND MP Jamie Reed has been at Sellafield today to officially open a recently refurbished staff tea bar within Sellafield’s Effluent Treatment Plant.
The project to refurbish the tea bar was initiated by Sellafield’s lead disability champion and Low-Active Effluent Management Group (LAEMG) process worker, Carl Lewthwaite (32, from Whitehaven). In June 2007 it was decided that the area needed to be made more user friendly, especially for those with disabilities and mobility issues.
The project has been completed in-house by the LAEMG team at the minimal cost of £12,500 using nearly all local, west Cumbrian suppliers at a fraction of the price it would have cost using external suppliers.
Representatives from Sellafield’s LAEMG team, the trade unions, Jim Morse Divisional Director, Assurance from the NDA and Sellafield's director of Production Operations, John Storer greeted Jamie Reed as he visited the site on Friday 28 March.
Jamie Reed said: “It’s a matter of fact that the Sellafield workforce is being challenged to produce and implement innovative solutions for challenges they face on the site. Nobody wants Sellafield to succeed more than the workforce and that they are genuinely up for the issues which the site has to tackle in the future.
“I think that innovation and improvement should always be recognised and Carl and his colleagues should be congratulated for this development. It’s precisely this kind of 'can do' culture that will ensure we succeed.”
The main alterations to the tea bar will include a more accessible seating area and separate microwave stands and vending machines along one wall - as opposed to being in one corner. The modifications will make the tea bar area a safer environment for the 250 workers who use it on a daily basis.
Carl Lewthwaite said: “It is a real honour to have Mr Reed here to witness first hand an example of what can be done by a flexible workforce keen to demonstrate improved efficiency while still maintaining plant production.
“I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who helped complete this project – especially Barry Ackerley, Edwin Dinsdale and Steve Adair; without their input this project wouldn’t have come off.”
John Storer added: “I am delighted to have been able to give my personal support to the implementation of this improvement project. In particular I have been impressed by the energy, initiative and flexibility of approach taken by the workforce. We are starting to demonstrate in this and other projects within Production Operations that we understand and can take on the challenge to deliver work in more effective, more efficient ways to the benefit of the customer and our various stakeholders.”
