Rotation workers will be checked for the coronavirus infection before arriving in Yamal

Since the 16th of April all rotation workers arriving in Yamal will be checked for the new coronavirus infection. The inspection will take place in two stages to ensure safety of residents and to prevent from the spread of the disease in the region. The decision was taken by the governor of Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug Dmitry Artyukhov.

“Majority of our oil-gas and construction companies extended the duration of the rotation shift by 3 months. But soon these 3 months will end, and it will be necessary to change people - it is understandable both from human point of view and from labor legislation. At the same time, our enterprises must fully operate, because oil and gas industry is the most important component of the country’s economy. More than 100 thousand rotation employees work in the region, and in order their arrival in May would not blow up the epidemiological situation, I decided that all of them should be tested for the coronavirus in their home regions, outside of Yamal”, the head of the region said.

No more than 3 days before arrival in Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug employees will have to pass a COVID-19 test in specialized organizations. After that, they will be temporarily isolated for at least 14 days and re-tested. Admission to work will be granted only if the result of the repeated research is negative.

Employers, including individual entrepreneurs working in the region, will be responsible for compliance with the new rules of work. In cases, when temporary isolation of employees will be fulfilled outside the territory of Yamal, employers will have to minimize contacts of workers on the way to the place of the rotation shift.

Today 11 organizations are busy with construction work on the territory of the region with involvement of rotation workers. The total number of rotation employees working in those companies makes 1015 people. They are building such large objects as a temple complex, an administrative building and a school in Salekhard, a fire station in Gyda of Tazovskiy district.

“We have already discussed the new rules for working on building sites in the context of the spread of the coronavirus infection in the region. In addition, the new rules concerning rotation workers are being introduced. The measures will significantly limit bringing of the infection from other regions. I ask the heads of construction organizations to take a very responsible approach to implementation of both new rules and ones already introduced”, said a deputy governor Andrey Voronov.

Earlier, the department of construction and housing policy of Yamal took the decision to continue construction process on the territory of the region. At the same time, construction organizations must comply with the new rules of work in order to ensure safety of their employees.

The big number of rotation workers, who arrive in Yamal, works in the fuel and energy sector. More than 100 thousand people work on the rotation basis in extractive fields, 76 thousand of them live permanently outside Yamal.

Subsidiaries of “Gazprom Neft” have already started creation of so-called clean terminals of work access for rotation personnel, who will be monitored by doctors before being sent to an extractive field. In addition, the company completed the first stage of mass preventive testing on COVID-19, which covered employees of the company and contractors involved in ensuring of continuous production. Testing allowed identifying carriers of the virus at the early stage without external symptoms and contact groups for isolation before confirming the diagnosis.

All employees of the company’s subsidiaries operating in Yamal were also tested: “Gazpromneft-Noyabrskneftegaz”; “Gazpromneft-Yamal”; “Gazpromneft-Zapolyarye”; “Messoyakhaneftegaz”; “Meretoyakhaneftegaz”; “Gazprom Neft shelf”, “Gazpromneft-Snabzhenie”. The tests are analyzed in laboratories certified by Rospotrebnadzor (The Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing). Data on test results are sent by laboratories to Rospotrebnadzor for confirmation. Regular and repeated testing of employees of industrial enterprises of “Gazprom Neft” will be continued.