If you’d asked me at the turn of 2020, what I would be doing in July, I know the answer would have been completely different to the one I would give you now.

The pandemic has brought different challenges for everyone – whether this has been the loss of a loved one without the support of your family, the sacrifices that key workers have made to keep essential services running (we cannot thank you enough), trying to balance working from home and supporting children with their schoolwork or being furloughed and wondering if you will have a job to go back to.

As a business, the pandemic has given us time to think and reflect. Initially prioritising looking after our people and adapting to new ways of working. Then to reset and thrive.

I am very proud of the way everyone has pulled together. We have maintained our strong sense of Team, with frequent video calls between colleagues and a weekly quiz, including identifying chocolate bars from x-ray images, so it isn’t all about work.

New services

One key new service that we have developed during the pandemic is online radiation protection training. This has proved to be extremely popular – particularly the interactive aspects and real-time Q&A. This has enabled us to keep the delegates engaged throughout the courses, rather than it being ‘death by presentation slides’.

In fact, there has been so much interest in this service that we have added more online live course dates for our Radiation Protection Supervisor (RPS) and Laser Safety Officer (LSO) courses.

We have also been busy developing and testing new services, including a new surveying technique using our state of art Aurora Radiation Mapping (ARM) system.

Supporting the radiation protection community

Aurora is also proud to continue to support the wider radiation protection community and the Society for Radiological Protection (SRP).

Angela Yeadon, one of our Laser Protection Advisers (LPAs) and Non-Ionising Radiation (NIR) Specialists, recently delivered a webinar on ‘an introduction to NIR safety management’. The webinar provided delegates with an overview of how to manage NIR safety in their workplace and included some valuable practical examples.

The support we provide isn’t all about radiation safety though. SRP, like other charities, depends on the support of its volunteers to operate and has a duty of care to look after those volunteers. Jill Reay, one of our Directors, is currently undertaking a survey investigating the well-being of SRP members, particularly those who have specific roles with the organisation, to ensure volunteers are provided with the support they need.

Strengthening the Team

Whist many organisations have been looking inward and contracting, Aurora has been looking outward and expanding. We welcomed Amy Elliott to the Team in April. Despite the obvious challenges of the current situation, Amy has settled in well and is already a key member of our Team. She has been particularly involved in the development of the online training. Amy will also be working towards her Radiation Protection Adviser (RPA) and Laser Protection Adviser (LPA) certification.

Looking forward

Aurora has remained open for business throughout the pandemic and we have listened very carefully to both our people and our Clients regarding the support they need and the most effective ways of providing it. We are very excited about our new forward looking initiative Aurora Restart. One aspect of this is the improvement and expansion of the services we provide, concentrating on providing the most effective and efficient support, using technology where appropriate but never losing the human touch. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our Clients for their continued support. We appreciate how difficult this period has been for many of you, and we look forward to seeing you all soon. Here’s to a bright and prosperous future. Glenn Hardcastle, Director