Page 8 - Suncor 360 - Summer 2016

06
SUMMER 2016
360
FEATURE
PAUL GARDNER
SVP, Human Resources
For the Human Resources team, the response brought complex challenges, but also many rewards. One of the rst priorities was to establish a process for contact with employees to ensure they were safe, and then stay connected with them. This involved, among other things, setting up the Family Response Centre (FRC). In those early hours we didn’t have all the answers and that was dif cult – you want to help people in distress. But right from the beginning, I was moved to see the genuine concern people had for one another. At the peak of the crisis, the FRC was a 24-hour operation and our advisors elded 4,400 calls. They were a calm voice on the other end of the phone, ensuring employees and their families felt supported during a chaotic time.
Even when our folks were out of danger, we knew they were just starting to face a long and stressful period. Our guiding principle was to do the right thing. We couldn’t get them back to the community any sooner, but we could give them peace of mind by continuing pay, ensuring access to funds, and providing safe transport, access to the Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP), and the like. Where we could, we also helped connect displaced employees with housing options in Calgary and Edmonton. And when our employees began to return to work at the beginning of June, we began a process to open up our Fort McMurray rental units to those whose homes were destroyed or damaged.
Looking ahead, we know the recovery journey will be a long one. In the short-term we need to be there to talk to our people and understand their personal situations. One thing is already clear – we have some of the most resilient and perseverant people I’ve ever seen.
Overall, the situation reinforced just how incredible the talent and dedication is in this organization. I cannot express enough how incredibly proud I am of all our employees.
MIKE MACSWEEN
EVP, Major Projects
Although the threat to the local community has passed, the
res will have an impact on the region for years to come. Watching local landmarks and neighbourhoods threatened, and
in some cases devastated by the disaster, was surreal and heartbreaking. With safety as our top priority, what I’m most proud of is how our teams responded through our evacuation efforts and our support for those impacted. The dynamic nature of the response required coordination amongst the majority of our businesses and functions. This is never easy – especially over a sustained period of time – but was testament to the strong character of our employees and contractors.
At Fort Hills, construction was paused as a result of the response efforts and is now ramped back up. We suspended construction activity to support camp and ight logistics for people displaced from the Fort McMurray community and our Suncor operations and camps further south. The impacts to Highway 63 transit and our suppliers from the region caused some disruption to Fort Hills; however, in coordination with Alberta Transportation, we continued to ship modules and material to the site as soon as it was safe to do so. Throughout May, we were able to operate our water treatment plant and sustain camp and site logistic services. Not only did this help support displaced residents and workers but also enabled an ef cient restart of site activity.
Workforce Mobility helped displaced employees nd temporary accommodations. L to R: Jane Heaney, Lori Campbell, Jenn Soleski, Jeff Houck, Fanny Burgos.
Fort Hills lodges provided a home away from home for evacuated families.