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year, the company had a exible framework around which to base its initial response, and to continue evolving it as events played out. "In late February at the early stages of this virus, we determined a high-level plan involving 33 principal actions," says Stratton. These actions were grouped into three distinct phases, each designed to imple- ment increasingly more strin- gent measures as the outbreak in the UK developed. The three phases Phase 1 involved immediately implementing 20 actions de- signed to prepare the business for any sudden deterioration in the situation and ensure UKPN would be able to react quickly to maintain business as usual operations without any impact on the services it provides to customers. Stratton says that also under this phase UKPN instigated enhanced sickness and absence reporting so that the company would be able to track the daily impact of the virus amongst sta„ groups. Phase 2 was triggered when Public Health England (PHE) declared the virus had become 'uncontrolled person-to-person' and involved reinforcing the local operational management sites with sta„ , equipment and materials (as it does for a major storm event). Also, UKPN stopped large-scale meetings, unnecessary business travel, introduced special protective measures for critical operations involving network control and the customer service centre and extended the IT remote working ability of up to 4,000 employees. Phase 3, which was triggered when PHE declared Covid-19 a pandemic and government implemented the lockdown, involved the graduated reduc- tion of planned work activities to only focus on essential work including responding to net- work faults, undertaking safety critical works and completing urgent connections associated with supporting the Covid-19 response. NETWORK / 19 / APRIL/MAY 2020 took into account was to protect any sta„ that might themselves be especially vulnerable to COVID-19. "For any sta„ who fall into the de— nition of being vulnerable in terms of underly- ing health conditions and at risk, we have fully adopted the guidelines set out by PHE," says Stratton. This means that, wher- ever possible, vulnerable sta„ are now working from home and, where that is not possible, that they remain at home and on full pay until the restrictions are li˜ ed. "We have also re— ned our HR policies to fully support all our sta„ and ensure theirs and their families' safety," he adds. For the workforce which must continue venturing out into the — eld or working from UKPN o› ces, there has been an increasing need to ensure compliance with a range of new guidelines issued by PHE, and Stratton admits this has required "agility" in terms of re— ning processes and acquiring necessary PPE – especially for customer-facing sta„ . In addition to conforming to new guidelines, UKPN has also taken steps to ring-fence special support of sta„ in the most critical roles. "These individuals have been set up with high criti- cality status and are ring-fenced to receive enhanced support from our IT colleagues, ensur- ing they will be able to do the work they need to do," Stratton explains. "This is a fast-changing unprecedented situation, and like other businesses, we are making daily decisions about changing the way we work, and trying to predict the next steps that might become necessary as the government brings in new measures to protect the UK population. "Crucial to this has been the magni— cent support and ex- ibility of all our sta„ and trade unions in — nding rapid and practical solutions in order that we can continue to 'keep the lights on' for all our customers in a safe manner at this time when our infrastructure is all "All three phases of our COVID-19 plan were fully implemented immediately a˜ er the Prime Minster invoked the national lockdown on Monday 23 March," says Stratton. "In addition, our existing command and control structure was triggered both at strategic and tactical levels and will remain in place until the crisis is determined to have moved to the recovery phase." Safety comes fi rst While the responsibility of ensuring reliable supplies to worried customers in lockdown conditions weighs heavily on the minds of all UKPN em- ployees, Stratton – and other business leaders Network has spoken to at UKPN – is very clear that the primary concern at the heart of all the actions the network has taken during this crisis,has been to ensure the safety and wellbeing of sta„ and customers. With this in mind, one of the — rst considerations UKPN "The magnifi cent support and fl exibility of all our staff and trade unions in fi nding rapid and practical solutions has been crucial." the more important to support beating this virus." In addition, Stratton says there has been rapid col- laboration across the networks industry, the regulator and relevant policy and trade bodies to ensure common and structure guidance is available to all DNO sta„ about how they should work and why, during these extraordinary circumstances. This is especially important for workers with a continued need to enter customer homes, says Stratton. "The national industry guidance includes extra precautions such as wearing protective equipment, staying in a di„ erent room from people who are infected or self- isolating, and avoiding touching surfaces," he explains. Defi ning essential work Just as important as the addi- tional work and actions that all networks have taken so far dur- ing this crisis, are the decisions that have been made about what not to do. Restricting operations to only the most essential interventions is key to adhering to govern- ment guidelines and minimising risks to sta„ and the public. In April, Network's sister title Utility Week revealed, on the back of an interview with UKPN chief executive Basil Scarsella, that around half of the DNO's planned work had been post- poned as a consequence of the coronavirus outbreak. Elaborating, Stratton says: "With the rapid introduction of the UK lockdown by the Govern- ment, it was necessary to greatly re— ne the type of work under- taken to essential activities only. This was to protect customers and sta„ but also to ensure that as the virus becomes more prevalent as expected by PHE, that we still have more than su› cient resources to be able to undertake these vital works. "From Friday 20 March at 5pm, all planned interruptions ceased across UK Power Net- works, other than for very brief interruptions up to a maximum of 30 minutes to allow the con-

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