Pemex: PEMEX Maintains COVID-19 Containment Strategy

​​​​​​​From the moment the pandemic was made known to PEMEX, various integrated measures have been applied and the company has acted following the Criteria for Vulnerable Groups and the Spe-cific Technical Guidelines for reopening economic activities

Of the total number of regrettable deaths in the company (1419 as of September 26), 328 were ac-tive workers, which represents 23% of the total death toll; this figure also represents 0.25% of the company’s overall workforce.
Petróleos Mexicanos reports that the company’s integrated prevention strategy to minimize the spread of COVID-19 among our workers, pensioners, and their families, has achieved the goal to contain the spread of the disease within the oil workers’ community. Additionally, we continue to strengthen our social distancing measures, home office for management activities and vulnerable personnel, sanitation filters, hygiene and saniti-zation of work centers, and safe distancing measures for operating personnel.

In accordance with the Agreement published on April 6 2020 in the Official Journal of the Federation (Spanish acronym: DOF), which was created in the framework of the sanitation and prevention measures against the spread of Covid-19, the criteria for vulnerable groups regarding age and pre-existing conditions were established.

At all times, Pemex has acted based on the Vulnerable Groups issued on July 27, 2020 and the Specific Technical Guidelines for the reopening of economic activities, published in the DOF on May 29, 2020.

To date, 15,164 workers in all Petróleos Mexicanos work centers and those of its Subsidiary Productive Compa-nies (acronym in Spanish: EPS) have been screened, of whom 8,234 met vulnerability criteria (54%), while 6,930 people did not meet such criteria at the time of their screening. These screenings were initiated on March 19 and continue to date.

From the moment the company was made aware of the pandemic, various integrated measures were undertak-en, as follows: From December 31 a COVID-19 alert was issued to all medical units that are part of the company’s Healthcare Services; on January 7, the containment protocol was initiated, which was issued to all medical and EMS personnel of Petróleos Mexicanos; from January 21 the hospital protocol for the management of suspicious cases was set in place, and on January 24 the Response Plan to the New Coronavirus COVID-19 Alert and the de-tection program were established.

By January 27, the Institutional Committee for Sanitary Response Preparedness was established in all areas that make up Petróleos Mexicanos and its Subsidiary Productive Companies, which initiated a weekly follow-up schedule, which was held as an in-person meeting at the beginning and now continues through the use of vide-oconferencing software.

From March 5 a training program was set in motion for medical and EMS personnel, in accordance with the medi-cal care protocol, which focuses on social distancing, adequate hand hygiene, use of personal protective equip-ment and laboratory testing.

On March 9 the onshore personnel prevention protocol was set in motion, which includes hand hygiene, sanitiza-tion of common-use areas, social distancing, organized arrival to the work centers, exhaustive disinfection of working areas and sanitization schedule.

On March 10 the Offshore Facility Personnel Protocol was set in motion, which consists in thermal control filters, thermographics, medical examination and the use of a sanitization cabin in the exit filters. Additionally, on docks and heliports, surfaces and common use areas are sanitized. Because at the working areas of the maritime re-gions it is necessary for workers to perform manual tasks in a small area, the sanitization protocol for operating areas was set in motion on the same date.

On March 13, the operations protocol for all Pemex offices and management areas was established, which in-cludes access to the facilities in turns, a filter checkpoint at the access points with temperature checks, as well as thorough disinfection of operating areas using chlorine bleach, in addition to scheduled sanitization. Afterwards, training continued at all levels for the management of the infection process, as well as the establishment of a standardized case recording system.

On March 19, the operating continuity protocol was activated, and the company operated with 50% of its work-force at all management levels, gradually increasing the figures to 30% of management workers on-site and 70% of the management personnel working from home.

From March onwards, specifically on the platforms, an integrated Covid-19 prevention protocol was established, which included healthcare information and sanitary filters at checkpoints prior to boarding, as well as the sched-uled mass disembarking of vulnerable workers, who numbered 3,097 workers.

Since then, a specific record is kept of all workers disembarked due to symptoms compatible with Covid-19, as well as following up on the qualitative testing (quick tests) as a useful tool in the disease control and early detec-tion of accelerated spread mechanism. These tests were integrated into the protocols as soon as they were avail-able in the country.

The qualitative tests (quick tests) have proven to be useful tools for disease control, quick location of mass conta-gion sites, and antibody detection within a population sector. A qualitative test searches for antibodies; in case these are found, it is highly likely that the person has come into previous contact with SARS-CoV-2. The presence of “IgG” antibodies suggests that the patient has been exposed to the virus and has developed an immune re-sponse. If “IgM” antibodies are found, that indicates the patient has been exposed to the virus, but the contact occurred within two weeks prior to sampling. Lastly, the presence of both IgG and IgM antibodies simultaneously indicates “the disease is in its acute phase “.

Based on this information, qualitative testing in Pemex started on April 19, at the General Hospital in Ciudad del Carmen. Since then, the quick test is applied before boarding, additionally to the screening, using a symptoms questionnaire and medical examination during the sanitation filter. According to the results obtained during these procedures, if a worker is identified as going through the acute phase of the disease, they will be prevented from boarding to prevent the virus from spreading.

This is applied to complement the other preventative measures, such as: hand hygiene, disinfecting the areas, social distancing, organized entry into the work centers, and deep cleaning and sanitization of work spaces, ther-mal and thermographic control checkpoints, medical examination and the use of a sanitization cabin. Additionally, on the docks and the heliports common use areas and spaces are disinfected regularly.

As part of the onshore personnel prevention protocol initiated on March 9, which includes hand hygiene, disin-fecting the areas, social distancing, and deep cleaning and sanitization of work spaces, the operating protocol for all office and management areas of the company with organized entry into the work centers, entry checkpoints with temperature checks, red flag area sanitization and disinfection of operating areas using chlorine. Afterwards, training was provided at all levels regarding the management of the infection process and the standardization of the case recording system.

Since March, all work centers have sanitary filter stations to screen every person going in and to make sure they wear face masks, regardless whether they are Pemex or other company workers. At the moment, 300 sanitary filters have been established, run by 230 physicians and 119 nurses, and 30 sanitization tunnels have been in-stalled.

A sanitization program is currently underway at these work centers. Working operations have been adjusted by roles to reduce the individual risk, in addition to giving talks about individual and collective preventative actions.

Additionally every day the areas are cleaned and disinfected using diluted chlorine, and high-traffic areas are sani-tized upon request.

Also, and in accordance with the distribution charts shown below, disinfections were performed using ultra-low volume spray on 765 buildings in the southeastern region, with a total 1,574 disinfection rounds; 61 buildings in the central-northern region, with a total of 333 disinfection rounds. Offshore facilities, 11 platforms and 6 vessels, were also disinfected.

Southeast​c227-sureste.png

Central-north

c227-centronorte.png

Offshore
c227-costaafuera.png
Products were also supplied to the corporate offices and to the Subsidiary Productive Companies, to prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV2 virus. The distribution is detailed in the chart below and totals 377,873 liters of chlorine bleach; 33,281 spray bottles; 97,545 pairs of latex nitrile gloves for disinfection purposes; 623,808 liters of hand sanitizer with 70% alcohol content; disinfectant wipes: 13,668 50-wipe containers, 1,529 bags containing 900 wipes and 16,184 containers with 84 wipes each; 9´947,278 disposable face masks; 212,250 liters of liquid hand soap; 5,339 mops; 44,826 flannel rags; 72,946 rolls of disposable paper towels; 13,312 soap dispensers; 27,266 hand sani-tizer dispensers; 21,448 folded paper towels; 9,961 boxes of disposable latex gloves; 54,240 multi-purpose cleaner fluid; 12,542 plastic face shields, and 6,783 disinfectant mats.
c227-productos.png​
PEMEX, unlike the other oil companies in the world, issues a daily report indicating the number of new cases, discharges, deaths, hospitalized patients, and people in isolation at home. These figures take 750,000 people as a basis, between workers, pensioners, and their family members. Of the total number of the regrettable deaths in the company, (1419 as of September 26), 328 were active workers, which represents 23% of the total death toll; it also represents 0.25% of the total number of active workers in the company, which numbers around 130,000 union and trusted workers.

Lastly, it is important to point out that the company has contributed to help the State of Campeche reach a low epidemic risk level, and the state is currently in the green zone. The above is due to the prevention, healthcare and follow up measures of its workers and the active coordination with the State Government for the donation of medical equipment and consumables.

​A description of the documents issued for the implementation of the above-mentioned measures is en-closed to this report.