LNG Canada’s Restart Plan Approved

LNG Canada and JGC I Fluor Joint Venture have received approval for their construction restart plan from the Office of the Public Health Officer and Northern Health. This follows a workforce and work activities reduction associated with the Provincial Health Officer’s Industrial Projects Restart Order, which applied to five major industrial projects in British Columbia, including the LNG Canada Project.

Our approved restart and measured workforce increase at the project site will continue over the coming months. Coordination and reporting protocols have been established between the Project and the Office of the Provincial Health Officer, Northern Health and other government authorities, as we work through the site restart and focus on our spring and summer construction program.

Mandatory COVID-19 Rapid Screening

Our tool kit to reduce the spread of COVID-19 continues to grow and evolve. Already in 2021, the Project has implemented enhanced COVID-19 protocols, including mandatory COVID-19 rapid screening using a rapid antigen test before workers return to the project site in Kitimat. Any Project worker who refuses the test will be denied entry to the site.

Phase 1 of our rapid screening program was implemented in early January at our charter hubs in Calgary and Edmonton. We plan to expand the program to our B.C. hubs in February (Vancouver, Kelowna and Nanaimo) as well as at our project site in Kitimat.

On-site Medical Resources and Facilities

In addition to rapid screening, we have on-site medical facilities staffed by more than a dozen healthcare professionals and emergency response team members, who are available to project workers 24/7. Providing professional medical care at our worksite greatly reduces the need for off-site services. On-site resources include:

• Three medical clinics
• Two nurse practitioners
• Three registered nurses
• Seven emergency response team members, three of whom are primary care paramedics
• Four advanced care paramedics, who provide around-the-clock medical services
• Virtual access to the physician medical director 24/7 for consultations from the nurse practitioner, when needed

Additional resources and equipment have been introduced to manage COVID-19 prevention and care. These include:

• Isolation wings in our workforce accommodation centre, where any resident with symptoms or confirmed COVID-19 infection is housed and receives services and care in seclusion from the rest of the population
• Increased staffing of medical professionals
• On-site COVID-19 swabs for workers as directed by health authorities
• Increased supplies of medical grade oxygen
• Non-medical Personal Care Attendants to assist worker accommodation centre residents in isolation wings

Services are available at a number of locations on site and in our worker accommodation centre, providing a range of medical support services that include occupational, non-occupational and mental health support.

Restricting Workers Movement in the Community

The LNG Canada Project continues to mandate the policy to forbid all non-local Project workers from leaving the project site, and other work areas, or visit any public establishments when they are on rotation. The only exception to that rule is in the case of a medical emergency or when attending a critical appointment that cannot be postponed or held virtually. Social gatherings among Project workers are also prohibited.

For more information about the strong measures we have in place to reduce the spread of COVID-19, please visit our website.

Stay safe.

Vince Kenny
LNG Canada, Construction Manager

Berni Molz
JGC I Fluor, JV Construction Director