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Amid the risk of contamination by the new coronavirus, professionals considered essential by Petrobras, who work in the area of natural gas extraction and production in the Petroleum Province of Urucu, in Amazonas, are faced with the need to be taken to isolation, away from their families, on a floor of the Taj Mahal hotel, in Manaus, if they have symptoms. In the midst of the pandemic Petrobras announces the sale of the Papa-terra oil field in the Campos Basin, RJ.
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According to the Union of Workers in the Oil Industry (Sindipetro Amazônia), representative of the states of Pará, Amazonas, Maranhão and Amapá, 26 Petrobras employees who worked in Urucu and showed symptoms of the new coronavirus were taken to Manaus.
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Of which five employees were diagnosed contaminated with the new coronavirus, of these, 1 employee is intubated in a private hospital, while the others await test results.
For Sindipetro, there is negligence on the part of Petrobras, which initially provided employees with a low-quality hotel in Manaus, in addition to not having provided assistance to those who disembarked with symptoms of the coronavirus, isolating them from others.
“Unfortunately, Petrobras did not take the necessary measures in time and we are now experiencing an outbreak of cases. Dozens of workers have already been disembarked and are now confined to the hotel in the capital of Amazonas. The company's management has made it difficult for the union to access information, so we decided to take this complaint to the media and public bodies so that there is some kind of intervention in this dramatic situation”, said Sindipetro Manaus.
In order to avoid the contagion and spread of the new coronavirus, the work schedule in Urucu, which was previously 14×21 days, was adjusted to have an additional seven days of quarantine in a hotel before departure. According to Sindipetro, these seven days work as a kind of quarantine prior to departure to the workplace, which are followed by 21 working days and 14 days off.
Despite this, the union questions the lack of tests on the loading and unloading of oil tankers, the omission by Petrobras to the union regarding the numbers of suspected and confirmed cases and possible salary reductions by the state-owned company.
Measures implemented by Petrobras to combat the coronavirus
Petrobras guarantees that it has implemented a series of proactive actions and preventive measures with its employees.
- The company reduced the number of employees in the operating units to the minimum necessary for safe operation in essential activities and reinforced cleaning and guidelines for safe distancing between people, even in the cafeterias
- In addition to proactive monitoring by health professionals, employees have access to a 24-hour channel to report any symptoms. Those who show any symptoms during this period are tested and do not board. And those on board who have any symptoms are evaluated by the dedicated medical team and, configured as a suspected case, are disembarked. Employees who have had very close contact (the so-called contacts) are also disembarked, tested and monitored”.
- In cases that the state of health requires, the employee is referred directly to the health system
per- A Review
