The LNG Canada project, a joint venture between Shell, PETRONAS, PetroChina, Mitsubishi Corporation and KOGAS that is building a Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) plant in Canada, used the Building Responsibly Worker Welfare Principles at their Fabrication Yard in China and found they made a significant difference in overall project performance. It serves as an example for contractors to replicate in future building and construction projects.
In October 2019, six leadership task teams were formed to address the most critical challenges and opportunities for positive impact at the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (COOEC) fabrication yard.
One of the Building Responsibly partnerships, composed of the Engineering, Procurement and Construction Contractor JGC Fluor, LNG Canada and COOEC looked at how best to implement the Building Responsibly Worker Welfare Principles, to help workers thrive and improve overall project performance.
Setting themselves up for success
The team responsible for the implementation of the project consisted of representatives from the client, contractor, subcontractor, and supervision side. At the very start of the project they engaged with members of the workforce to learn about, and address challenges and opportunities related to worker’s health and safety. This helped the team build their evidence base, ensure the effectiveness of the program, and build a trusting relationship with the workforce.
Making changes
New break rooms and toilet facilities were built, as well as a new canteen. In addition, the Project Performance Maintenance program (originally called the Perfect Day Program) was developed to enhance team performance. The program established a monthly competition between teams that awarded prizes for the best results in health and safety, quality, final project delivery and overall fabrication. Treating workers with respect and dignity by improving their health and welfare, and recognizing their contribution to improve outcomes, is not only the right thing to do, but also leads to positive impacts in their performance and the performance of the overall business.
Assessing the impact
The project led to 30 million safe work hours being logged, with one injury recorded throughout the whole project timeline. The injured worker was provided with full medical support and returned to work.
The sentiment of the workforce related to the project was overall positive and many voiced their appreciation for being treated so well at work. A lot of the workers are working thousands of kilometers away from their homes and families but stated that they are happy to be working on the LNG Canada project.