Responding to the COVID-19 situation

“Home Safe. Every day.” is a key aspect of our Babcock corporate values. It is our commitment to never compromise on health and safety. The health and well-being of our employees is, and will always be our first priority. It is a priority for Babcock Canada, and it is also a priority for our nation and our communities. 

The situation with the novel coronavirus is developing rapidly. It calls for extraordinary measures, to protect our employees, customers, families and colleagues, and to do what we can as an organization to contribute to the national effort to lessen the rise of COVID-19 cases.   

Babcock has adopted the following workplace practices with immediate effect. We will adapt further as required to help protect our employee population and the communities in which they work.

Travel

• Work-related international business travel and all work-related domestic non-essential travel has been cancelled.
• Work-related domestic essential travel will require approval at the Vice President level. 
• Should our employees need to travel internationally for personal reasons, they have been asked to discuss their travel plans with their respective Vice President so that plans can be made for their return. Self-isolation periods and other government re-entry restrictions will be taken into account.

Working from Home

• Those able to complete their work from home and desiring to work from home, are being encouraged to do so.
• For those unable to work from home (or that do not wish to do so), our offices will remain open for now. This may change in the days and weeks to come. Those who choose to work in the office are being asked to implement as much social-distancing as possible

Work at our Babcock Sites

• Given the nature of the work that we do, some parts of our business cannot provide all of our employees with the option of working from home.
• These areas are being assessed on a program-by program and site-by-site basis, taking operational priorities into account to determine which, if any, of our employees can work from home.

Public Transit and Parking

• For those employees that are unable to work from home and normally take public transit, site-specific arrangements are being made where possible to make parking available. In other cases, the cost of parking may be covered with approval from a Vice President. This will help limit our employees’ exposure during their commute to and from the office.

Communication

• General update emails will be sent to all employees at least once per week.

Recruitment and Training

• All non-essential recruitment and training is being deferred until further notice. 

Employee Assistance Program

• Assistance will continue to be available to our people through our Employee Assistance Program.

The next few weeks will be challenging for all of us. I encourage all of us to be as flexible in our approach as possible, and to continue to look out for one another by conducting our lifestyles sensibly and in line with the recommendations of the World Health Organization. (https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus)

As this is a rapidly developing situation, additional changes / practices may be implemented on relatively short notice.

In the meantime, our hearts and thoughts go out to all of you who have been affected – directly or indirectly – by the COVID-19 virus.  Please keep safe.

Mike Whalley, President of Babcock Canada