Enhanced safety measures for the changeovers of shift personnel have been introduced at Gazprom Transgaz Surgut.

Before arriving at production facilities, new shift workers will spend two weeks in isolation. To this end, 13 buffer zones with 644 beds were created in the local hostels and hotels. The quarantine measure is aimed at preventing persons potentially infected with the new coronavirus from entering the company’s facilities.

Before being admitted to the isolation zone, workers will undergo medical check-ups. Employees with any signs of illness will be sent away for treatment at their places of residence. During the two-week quarantine, gas workers will be tested for COVID-19 twice, and they will not be able to come on duty unless both of their tests yield negative results.

The shift personnel will spend all 14 days in isolated rooms under the surveillance of medical staff. The workers will be provided with three hot meals a day via contactless delivery in compliance with sanitary standards. A procedure was developed to be followed by the staff in case persons suspected of having the new coronavirus are identified, with special places reserved for such patients.

Enhanced safety measures are taken when shift workers are moved from isolation areas to production facilities. Some of the workers will be delivered by charter flights on planes and helicopters, while the rest will arrive at their workplaces by crew buses traveling without intermediate stops. Passengers (traveling by air or road) will be seated at the maximum possible distance from each other. Vehicles will be disinfected in advance.

All shift workers are supplied with medical masks and disinfectants, and the medical personnel is provided with personal protective equipment (suits, respirators, and face shields).

Two-week isolation in the buffer zones will be mandatory for not only shift workers of Gazprom Transgaz Surgut, but also the staff of contracting companies that need to be working to maintain the operational continuity of the gas transmission company. The days spent by shift workers in temporary self-isolation are counted as work days and are therefore paid.