Anyone else got a bit of déjà vu?  Lockdown two is a little reminiscent of the first lockdown, nowhere to go, very little outside of home to do but with some key differences (in my house anyway).  My kids are still at school and Mr H is still teaching secondary maths, although sometimes to limited numbers as pupils have to self-isolate.  There is no brass band practice and no swimming lessons, and we can’t go to Nanna and Grandpa’s for tea, but the kids can go for childcare before and after school. 

I am still able to attend work as required to do my job which is different from lockdown one, where I was left working at home with a blackberry, a pen and an A4 refill pad.  I now have a laptop and full connectivity to the work network, and a new job, which is going OK.  At one point I realised I had three handovers ongoing (two going out and one coming in), which was a bit too much.  Took a step back and agreed one of them was done, so now just one in and one out and they should be complete by the end of the month.  I am moving away from the reprocessing plants, where focus is on moving things through the plant into products, to the remediation and retrievals areas where the focus is on project delivery.  Different hazards and a change in focus from short term targets of getting reprocessing completed to a longer term target of high hazard risk reduction.

SRP has now admitted the first Incorporated Radiation Protection Professional (IRadP) to the Radiation Protection Council’s Professional Register.  Congratulations to John Case from Urenco UK at Capenhurst.  This is a historic moment and the start of SRP using its Charter to provide professional recognition for those at differing levels of the profession (and no, I haven’t completed my CRadP application – read last month’s blog on getting two new jobs in a month!).  Find out more about professional recognition for IRadP and TechRadP.  Anyone out there fancy having a race to get our CRadP qualifications?  I clearly need some motivation to get it done!

Talking of motivation, my new team suggested we use one of our daily catch up sessions as a wellbeing meeting.  This is a planned version of those conversations in the office when you all catch up on stuff outside of work.  It was good to discuss wider things and learn a bit about the team (who know they are getting a mention – thank you for agreeing to feature in the blog!).  Next time I need to remember that asking what everyone’s plans are for the weekend is not a good idea, we are in lockdown!

In the wider world Brexit (with or without a deal) is coming closer and the end of the year means some wider changes for us all.  SRP has this month shared some information on behalf of BEIS on the shipment of radioactive sources. 

Remembrance Sunday was different this year, Mr H still went and played the Last Post at the War Memorial in Egremont, but instead of supporting him, I sat at home with the kids watching the London ceremony on the TV.  It was strange as there were few people involved and they were so spread out, but clearly it is a sign of the times.  We remember those who fought for our survival and I can’t help but see the parallels between the world wars and our current COVID-19 situation.  We have all had to change how we live, some have lost loved ones and the end of the situation is uncertain.  They got through that without Joe Wicks, Zoom quizzes and social media, but that doesn’t make the fight less difficult; we have to be strong, and keep up the controls to minimise the virus and hopefully we too can overcome the enemy. 

Stay Safe and be kind.

You can get in touch on the usual details.

Jennifer Humphries
SRP Director of Engagement
Twitter - @jenkhumphries
Email - Engagement@srp-uk.org