Thomas A Jenkins MSyI DipGAI MinstAI MBLI


Principal Consultant and Director ATAJ Secure


Personally, I feel fine, but I have been horrified at such a loss of life in a short


space of time and the incomprehensible task our wonderful NHS have and are still undertaking. I did contract COVID-19 in January 2021 and suffered, but was not hospitalised. It seems to have left me with side-effects which are still being investigated. I was furloughed for virtually all of 2020 and support was constantly offered by my organisation during this spell. Then, like many others, I was offered voluntary redundancy in the summer. This suited me. I started my own business in January 2021 which gave me a new and exciting outlook on the situation and helped me stay mentally focused on what I enjoy doing.


As a family, we followed all the government restrictions and regularly watched the COVID updates. Several family members work in public services, including the NHS and education, and subsequently contracted COVID-19.


I always contact my GP first and follow NHS advice on their app and on the website. Reading the stories of others helped in making judgements on whether support was needed. We have a British spirit of carry on regardless!


The pandemic has clearly identified many areas we need to address in Health and Safety at work. We can improve the space around us and look out for ourselves and others. Sadly, the anti-government and anti-COVID


restrictions followers have affected this progress but we will win the battle. We will always do our best and we are more aware now than ever.


Boguslawa Motylska MSc MSyI Director at CPTED- UK Ltd, Member of the Security Institute, Design Council Expert


The pandemic has affected me and my


company on many levels. As a small business we adapted quickly and used it as an opportunity to change the way we work for the better.


Working from home made me feel isolated and miss the interaction with work colleagues. This, and the COVID exercise rules have inspired the Security Institute Running Club on Strava. Many people took up running during lockdown. Sharing the experience with others motivates me and makes running much more fun. The club has now got 28 members, nearly 4000 miles on the clock, and a few marathons under its belt.


Another positive outcome of the pandemic is reduced emission of carbon dioxide generated by transport. The average passenger vehicle emits about 411 grams of CO2 per mile. Many companies started to adopt the green agenda as a core value, and the pandemic allowed them to speed up the process. In CPTED-UK we minimise our travel by cutting out all unnecessary journeys and using sustainable transport where possible.


I do hope that a reduced commute will become a permanent change. My previous


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employer requested all staff to go back to the office post lockdown. For me the commute would generate 5kg of CO2 per day and there is no way I would have signed up for that.


Phil Ingram Founder and


Managing Editor of Grey Hare Media


The pandemic has had a direct impact to some of my


colleagues as they have caught the virus; most have had few to


mild symptoms, but a few are suffering from the symptoms of long COVID and it is the realisation of this that has raised awareness around how serious this pandemic has been and is. Support is at the core of how we do business, so we have been in a fortunate position to keep doing what we always did but with the new regulations and advice issued by Public Health England.


The advice we would offer is to monitor, prepare for and resource what is needed for the threats laid down by government through local resilience forums. The second piece of advice is to apply common sense. There has been too much discussion around conflicting advice when any confusion can easily be mitigated with a healthy dose of common sense.


The main change the pandemic has made is to prepare for the unexpected and ensure health and wellbeing remains at the core of our team.


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