The Hunt for Hazard Tape or the Plans for the Great Re-Opening



Alot of my time over the past week has been putting plans in place for re-opening Alma Block. Watching from the side-lines as retail gears up for shops opening next week, I have been taking onboard considerations to help with risk assessments and plans. Straightforward it has not been...

I was quick off the mark with the realisation that one man and his dog would want a 'sneeze screen' as it is known in the trade. My weekly venture to Sainsbury's (other supermarkets are available) has enabled me to watch with interest as social distancing is put in place, and perspex screens have mulitplied and increased in size. I was on it straight away and posted in a local business fb group which I am part of. Immediately suggestions and recommendations came flooding in and within 24 hours I had arranged for a visit to the Museum. We await the final result with excitement and intrepidation, but thankfully we are sorted for a 'sneeze screen' for our reception desk.

Next, social distancing. How to deal with folk coming into the Museum and meandering round. Using the cases as a rough guide for visitors to keep safely apart, and highlighting these areas with hazard tape on the floor therefore illustrating safe distances for folk to visit. Next, purchase some hazard tape and get sticking. Easier said than done. What I had hoped to be a quick 15 minute job turned into a morning of surfing the net in pursuit of the sticky stuff. Exorbitant prices (£10 a roll? You're having a laugh!) and long delivery times increased research time. None at local DIY stores or specialist H&S websites. Eventually, I found a reasonably priced site that lured me in with direct delivery to my house at no extra charge. Result! I duly ordered five rolls and made myself a celebratory coffee. Only to find less than an hour later an email in my in-box to say that delivery would be the middle of July and did I want to proceed with this order. As we are hoping to reopen at the beginning of the month, no I flipping didn't! What a complete waste of my time! Why didn't they put something on their website then I wouldn't have ordered it in the first place? I immediately answered that I wanted to cancel the order. Back to square one.

In my head, I started to think about a plan B. At a push, we could use red and white tape (also in short supply) but the  gallery would look a right mess. Black floor tape? A local supermarket used this and shoppers completely ignored floor markings. No, it has to be obvious and in your face without being too garish. Time for a much-needed break and some chocolate before restarting the search. My break turned out to be a weekend off from re-opening planning and purchasing of tape. Time out from risk assessments, measuring for barriers, plans for reception desk or staff rotas but Monday morning I was back on task. After a discussion with the man of the house, I went straight to our local branch of Tool Station, ordered five rolls of the black and yellow sticky stuff and received an email in half an hour to say they were awaiting collection. I jumped in the car, headed a mile and a half down the road, went straight in and there they were. The excitement! The pure satisfaction of holding the five lovely rolls in my little hands!

The little beauties are now at the Museum awaiting the return of staff to cut and stick around the floor of the gallery. And when visitors return to Alma Block and are wandering around the Museum obeying social distancing rules, I hope they appreciate the blood sweat and tears that went into ensuring they are safe on their day out to the Museum. Oh, and that they admire the beautiful hazard tape on the floor too.

Who knew that I could write a whole blog post on black and yellow hazard tape?

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