In mid-May, we launched the ‘COVID-19 Champions’ program, a global employee recognition initiative dedicated to celebrating those who are making a difference during the COVID-19 pandemic by finding innovative ways to support their colleagues, the Company and the community.
The program aims to recognize employees who are going above and beyond to make a positive contribution in the areas of health and safety, innovation, community support and increasing team morale.
This week, we recognize Radmila Rybalko, Business Assistant, and Maksim Yumagulov, Continuous Improvement Manager, from Kupol for their contributions to improve processes and procedures, and awareness surrounding health and safety during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In mid-March, as the COVID-19 crisis escalated, a number of new procedures were implemented at Kupol, impacting over 850 employees. During this time, Radmila and Maksim jumped into action, helping to circulate communications for awareness, implementing best practices and finding innovative solutions to modify day-to-day activities to help ensure the health and safety of employees across the mine.
This included developing and implementing contactless instant notification systems for employees, organizing mass COVID-19 testing across the mine, creating and implementing a new shift rotation model and reorganizing existing facilities into observation or isolation centres to monitor and prevent the spread of cases at Kupol.
Radmila plays an instrumental role in organizing and maintaining the contactless notification system for employees that involves developing and circulating information and updates related to COVID-19 cases, following health and safety best practices and supporting management communications with RPN, the local regulatory body, helping build a good rapport to ensure efficient flow of information between Kupol and the government. She was also an asset in organizing testing for employees in a safe, efficient manner.
Maksim was responsible for developing and managing the new rotational shift schedule that required employees to work extended rotations. This involved undergoing a pre-site departure COVID-19 test, followed by a 14-day observation period on site and a follow-up test after their observation period. This modified rotational period ensures the health, safety and stability of each crew and prevents the potential spread of the virus with each crew’s changeover.
Together, Radmila and Maksim have worked closely with site management and the safety and sustainability teams to make significant contributions that have reduced the risk of COVID-19 at Kupol. Their efforts have been recognized across Russia with the vast majority of innovations being implemented at Dvoinoye. We thank Radmila and Maksim for their hard work and dedication to putting people first, and protecting our people during COVID-19!
