Submitted by Braydon Hansson
Domtar is well prepared for the start of the mill shutdown in Dryden.
The annual spring maintenance begins Saturday and is expected to last eight days.
Spokesperson Bonny Skene says, “There are many maintenance jobs that we can’t do when the mill is operating so we shut it down and we do all that work in a very concentrated and focused way.”
Skene stresses strict COVID health and safety protocols are in place.
“We take this responsibility of executing a safe shutdown very seriously. We recognize that we operate in a small remote community. We want to make sure that we are protecting certainly the health and safety of workers and contractors and by extension community members.”
Skene says they were very successful last year and were even recognized nationally for the best practice in terms of health and safety for their maintenance outage.
Some 100 contractors will be in town for the work, most from northwestern Ontario.
Skene says, “We have a comprehensive health and safety plan, and this extends right out to the hotels. What’s different is a lot of the restaurants are very in depth and effective with curbside pick-up.”
Last year the shutdown occurred at the start of the pandemic at a time when everyone was trying to adjust to unexpected lockdowns and restrictions.
Food was catered to workers in participating hotels as a result.
Skene adds, “Frankly the contractors are used to the protocols now and they’ve had to implement them across all of the jobs that they do. So, I think we’re all feeling a little more experienced and confident in the things that have been put in place and are required.”
