News & Insights
Interview: Providing essential works throughout the pandemic | Darren Grange
Mercury has launched its new series of interviews with our people, as they work through this unusual and unprecedented time in our history. Our fourth interviewee is Darren Grange, an Electrical Foreman based in Ireland.
How long have you been working with Mercury?
“I started my career with Mercury as an apprentice in 2005, and then went to work for a different company and completed by apprenticeship in 2010. I’ve been back working with Mercury again since 2016”.
What has your experience of working through the pandemic been like?
“I’ve been lucky enough to have continued working throughout the pandemic as most of the jobs that I work on were classed as essential works during the period when many construction sites were shutdown. A lot of upcoming projects on the various jobs were put on hold due to the pandemic but maintenance still had to be carried out in the facilities plus other jobs arose from the pandemic itself as in setting up areas and offices to allow for social distancing and setting up areas to be available as contract tracing facilities should the need arise for them”.
Have there been any advantages you’ve noticed or challenges to overcome?
“The only advantage I’ve really noticed throughout the whole pandemic is how easy it is to get around between different jobs as there has been little to no cars on the roads. It’s been a definite challenge on some aspects of life though. I was due to get married later this year which now has to be cancelled due to the pandemic”.
How are you been staying in touch with friends and family?
“I have been staying in touch with family and friends through the usual weekly family quizzes and virtual escape rooms. There have been a lot of challenges for family life also. My own father was battling cancer and got pneumonia in late January and sadly passed away so when the pandemic came my family took it very seriously. I have 3 small kids who have been out of school since the start of March and it’s very hard on them being stuck inside the house for such a long period as is the same with all families with small kids they just can’t wait to be able to be back out playing with their friends again”.
What’s day to day work life right now?
“It’s starting to get a bit more back to normal. The jobs that were on hold are starting up again with all the measures in place to adhere with the guidelines over the pandemic. We have all gotten into a good routine now of getting our temperatures taken regularly, assessing our tasks and including any extra measures that need to be taken to ensure social distancing is kept or extra PPE is needed”.
How are your colleagues dealing with the situation?
“All of my colleagues have been great throughout the pandemic. We all have had our own issues and problems that have arisen from it so its good to be able to talk to them and know sometimes that we’re all going through difficult times but we’ll all get through it in the end as best we can”.
Mercury | Working Through the Pandemic | Interview Series
Elena Martin, Commissioning Manager in Frankfurt
Diego Pacheco, Graduate Engineer in Amsterdam.
Eoin Lally, Electrical Manager in Frankfurt.
We will be regularly releasing new content in our Working Through the Pandemic series, with our staff across Ireland, the UK and Continental Europe. Stay tuned for more content over the coming weeks!
