HOW SOME SPN MEMBERS MADE IT THROUGH COVID-19
Paul Seibel C . E . T ., G . S . C . President – ACL Steel Ltd . Just to set the record straight , we have not made it through COVID . We are now entering our so-called third wave . The constant shutting down of Ontario ’ s economy has destroyed so many businesses , plus the personal lives of so many misfortunate individuals .
Being declared an essential business , along with projects related to this ( like infrastructure , the food industry , etc .), we at ACL have managed to keep our doors open .
To accommodate COVID protocol , we realized that gathering places like the employee entrance , lunchroom , change rooms , and wash stations needed additional space . After discussions with employees , it was decided to break people into small groups with staggered start and stop times for their work day , which then allowed social distancing requirements to be met .
We painted out the shop floor with the two-meter spacing requirements ( as per guidance for social distancing ). We locked our doors . No visitors were allowed . Truck drivers remained in their vehicles . All paperwork was emailed in , signed , and scanned back . Parcels and the mail were left in our vestibule ( to air-dry out COVID , LOL ). Wearing masks became mandatory and we posted all sorts of signs : wash your hands , sanitize your area , keep your distance , cover coughs and sneezes , no sharing of personal items or tools . And safety talks about social distancing , gatherings , washing , and sanitizing became our safety talks daily .
We have no real strategy other than to follow the governments / public health measures along with enforcement of those rules here at our facility . I believed this helped to keep the doors open . We managed a theme of all working together to keep each other safe .
We networked with OSSFA ( Ontario Structural Steel Fabricators Association ) who posted almost daily news , recommendations , what to do , and generally kept all of us informed . COCA ( Council of Ontario Construction Association ) along with Sherrard Kuzz ( our lawyers ) kept us abreast of the changing rules , employer rights , employee rights , and dos and don ’ ts , which all helped in keeping knowledge in front of us about COVID .
COVID has delayed many worksites , productivity has fallen , materials are hard to get , some goods are now on allocation , and prices have gone through the roof .
The question is when will the bubble bust here in Canada , not if .
Dominic Poulin Purchasing & Quality Manager Beauce Atlas The steel market has completely exploded since October , and this has not stopped since . An economic recovery was expected last fall , of course , caused by the “ hold ” of global economic activities .
On the other hand , it was difficult to foresee that this recovery would be sustained for so long and that it would lead to a scarcity of raw materials . Prices are constantly increasing , and it is difficult to maintain our bid prices for a very long time . We need to work with our customers and explain the current situation to them and make a faster decision on the award of their contract so that we can reserve and secure our steel — our raw material ! Most of our customers are aware of the situation in our markets .
At the workforce level , we had to work collectively to put in place rigorous sanitary measures to prevent any problems and to allow our essential activities to continue .
Spartan Steel Spartan Steel was extremely fortunate with some projects in late 2019 and early 2020 that required a majority of our team members to have the flexibility to work both in the office and on site . Setting up the last team member with off-site working capabilities occurred on March 13 , 2020 . With work-from-home orders issued the following week , we were one of the lucky companies that did not have an interruption in production as all office members had the resources and experience to work remotely . To reduce the possibility of COVID contact for shop staff , some adjustments were made , but as a fabrication shop provides ample room for social distancing , the adjustments were minor . Some additional measures were put in place as community case counts rose . These measures included temperature checks , face masks / shields , and staggered breaks .
In addition to being able to work from home , Spartan Steel was fortunate with a healthy backlog of work that carried well into the second quarter of 2020 . As some projects were cancelled or postponed , it provided an opportunity to fine-tune the operation and ensure the office and shop were following “ lean ” principles . Unfortunately , as our volume did decline in the third quarter from the previous year , we had to reduce our staff both in the office and shop .
The main philosophy that we follow and adhered to during the pandemic was to ensure the team members could perform multiple tasks to allow a relatively lean operation . This allowed us to react to fluctuations in work volume and type without having to increase or decrease our staff on a regular basis . Unfortunately , the pandemic forced some office and shop casualties , but we were able to weather the storm . We are confident this strategy will continue to help Spartan Steel in the midst of this pandemic and carry us forward when we are past the pandemic . +
14 MAKING IT THROUGH COVID-19 STEELPLUS . COM