The global health crisis posed by COVID-19 is unlike anything previously faced by companies, by families, and by communities. The scope and severity of this pandemic requires all of us to step up and do our part. As a proudly Canadian-based resource company with over 100 years of history, Teck is committed to putting in place the necessary measures to protect our workers and communities, and to playing a role in the global mobilization to beat COVID-19.    

Teck has implemented extensive preventative measures across our offices and operations in order to safeguard the health of our employees and contractors, while continuing to operate safely and responsibly maintain employment and economic activity to the extent possible.  

Measures in place at Teck’s sites include: 

• Operating with reduced crew sizes

• Reducing or eliminating in person meetings and other large gatherings

• Staggering shift start times to support physical distancing

• Enhanced cleaning and disinfecting protocols, including frequent disinfecting of employee buses and work areas

• Promoting personal preventative measures, such as frequent handwashing

• Ensuring adequate supplies of critical COVID-19 prevention materials are available at site including PPE and disinfectants

• Screening all contractors and external visitors to site for risk factors and symptoms

• Increasing physical distancing practices at site, such as reducing the number of passengers on buses; separating groups of employees at work; cancelling large group meetings; changing meetings from in-person to electronic, e.g. holding crew meetings by radio

• Requiring employees who show symptoms or are in close contact with someone with symptoms to stay home from work

• Requiring employees returning from international travel to self-isolate

• Monitoring and maintaining communication with employees and contractors who have reported symptoms and are self-isolating

• Reducing the number of on-site staff as much as possible; implementing work from home where feasible

• Expanded sick leave coverage for affected employees

• Collaborating with public health authorities on COVID-19 controls, testing and contact tracing

We are closely monitoring and following guidance from public health agencies and government.

Our Protocols & Resources

View Teck’s COVID-19 response protocols and resources for employees and operations. These materials are available to provide insight into how we are responding to COVID-19, and as a resource for other organizations.

We have implemented new and expanded services to help support our people through the challenges created by COVID-19. 

Guidelines and Resources for Employees

We provide regular updates to employees on preventative measures, COVID-19 symptoms, protecting themselves and others, and how to self-assess before coming to work. Learn more on the Employee Resources page.

Engaging and Communicating

We provide regular updates to employees and ensure information on COVID-19 protocols and prevention is readily available. Our safety leadership campaign, Stopping the Spread. It Starts with Me, highlights employees speaking about what they are doing to stop the spread, to help strengthen the culture of prevention across our sites.

Addressing Employee Feedback

Our Doing What’s Right program provides a confidential and secure means for our employees to anonymously report concerns about conduct that may be contrary to our values and standards, including concerns regarding our COVID-19 response. The program is managed by a third party and prohibits retaliation against any person reporting a concern in good faith, or participating in an investigation relating to a concern.

Maintaining Employment

We are focused on operating safely and responsibly maintaining employment and economic activity to the extent possible during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Paid Time Off During Temporary Slowdown

To reduce risk of transmission and support efforts to combat COVID-19, we worked in close collaboration with our unions to implement temporarily reduced crew sizes at our operations. All hourly employees in these jurisdictions continued to be paid during this period.

Suspension of QB2 Construction Activities

To reduce risk of transmission and support the country’s efforts to combat COVID-19, we have temporarily suspended construction activities for Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 project in Chile.

Employee and Family Assistance Programs

Our Employee and Family Assistance Programs ensure all employees and their families have immediate and confidential support services, crisis counselling support and/or referrals to community resources.

On-Demand Virtual Health Care Services 

Our employees in Canada and the U.S and their families have on-demand access to a team of primary care providers via a mobile health app. Users can speak with and seek advice from a clinician about medical or mental health concerns.

Extended Short-Term Disability Benefit

Expanded coverage of sick leave benefits for regular employees to ensure anyone required to self-isolate remains eligible for sick leave benefits with no waiting period.

Teck is supporting critical social initiatives and increased healthcare capacity in areas where Teck operates and internationally. Teck has created a $20-million fund to support COVID-19 response and future recovery efforts. This funding is going to support critical social initiatives and increased healthcare capacity, including procuring one million masks to be donated for healthcare in British Columbia. 

Donations to date through the fund include:

• One million masks in British Columbia: Working in collaboration with government agencies and utilizing its supply chain network, Teck has procured 1 million KN95 masks to donate to B.C.’s healthcare system with delivery expected in the coming weeks.

• Teck Community Response Fund for local communities in Canada, Alaska and Chile: A dedicated community investment fund will support local organizations in areas where Teck operates directly involved with COVID-19 response (such as healthcare and social services) or those directly experiencing impacts resulting from COVID-19. A portion of this fund will be specifically dedicated to support for Indigenous communities. Teck is also expediting payments to local and Indigenous suppliers to support their ongoing economic resiliency.

• Healthcare services in Chile: Teck will support healthcare services in the Tarapaca and Coquimbo regions of Chile, including funding medical supplies, equipment, facilities and professionals at the Iquique hospital; family and primary health services in Pica, Pozo Almonte, and Chanavayita; and healthcare services in La Serena.

• Investments in use of copper towards infection prevention initiatives: Through its Copper & Health program, Teck will continue to collaborate with public agencies and is making an additional $1 million available to advance the use of copper products to support infection control and prevention.

• Contributions to Canadian relief efforts: Teck is providing $250,000 to the Canadian Red Cross towards supporting health services and public health in the battle against COVID-19, including the deployment of the Red Cross’s Emergency Response Unit field hospital and the supply of medical equipment.

• Support for international relief efforts: Teck has contributed to international aid efforts including $500,000 to UNICEF (in collaboration with the World Health Organization Solidarity Response Fund) to provide critical medical and sanitation supplies, equipment and training in over 180 countries, and $250,000 to the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation to support children in rural communities in China.

• Support for medical research programs in Canada: Teck has provided a $250,000 contribution to the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation for targeted drug discovery into therapeutic solutions to the COVID-19 virus carried out at the Vancouver Prostate Centre. 

• Ongoing support of women and other vulnerable groups: Teck continues to support a range of organizations focused on supporting girls, women and other vulnerable groups including UN Women, Educating Girls in Rural China and others. 

Further donations through the fund will include procuring additional supplies or PPE for healthcare and community use, contributions to global relief efforts, medical research, and long-term economic recovery from the impacts of COVID-19. 

Currently, all of the operations of which we have management control continue to operate, with measures in place for preventing transmission, in line with guidance from health and government authorities. We are working to maintain production and sales to the extent possible in the short term, which is important to get our people back to work to support families and our communities. 

Working with Unions

We are working closely with our unions, particularly our largest union the United Steelworkers, on implementing preventative measures and keeping employees informed. Read more in this joint statement from Teck and the Steelworkers.

Supply Chain Management and Customer Relations

COVID-19 has the potential to affect both our customers and certain of our suppliers, and we are closely monitoring potential impacts on demand for our products, as well as our supply chain. We have worked to ensure all contractors have adequate supplies of critical COVID-19 prevention materials including PPE and disinfectants.

In British Columbia, Alberta and Alaska, mining operations, supplies and services that support supply chains, and port and rail operations, have all been declared essential services that can continue to operate with appropriate preventative measures. 

Suspended Operations and Projects

We announced on March 18, 2020 a temporary suspension of construction activities at our Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 (QB2) project to ensure employee safety and support Chilean efforts to limit transmission of COVID-19. The suspension continues and Teck is preparing for a quick and efficient restart once it is safe to do so. The suspension affects a total of approximately 15,000 workers on the QB2 project.

Shareholder Communications

We are focused on providing timely and meaningful information to shareholders in a safe and responsible way. In response to COVID-19, we have modified our shareholder communications as outlined in the following news releases.

• April 13 – Teck Announces Change in Location of Annual Meeting of Shareholders

• March 25 – Teck Postpones 2019 Sustainability Review Investor Conference Call

• March 13 - Teck Announces COVID-19 Precautionary Measures for its Annual Meeting of Shareholders, Investor and Analyst Day and Modelling Workshop

Ongoing Commitment to Responsible Resource Development

All of Teck’s activities continue to be underpinned by our focus on health and safety and sustainability leadership. Throughout the current health crisis , we remain committed to responsible business practices in all aspects of our activities, including meeting the company-wide policies and commitments set out in our Code of Sustainable Conduct, Code of Ethics, Health and Safety Policy, Human Rights Policy, and other Teck policies and commitments. We remain committed to responsible resource production and implementing our recently updated sustainability strategy, including our objective of being a carbon neutral operator by 2050. Learn more about our approach to climate action.

Communication

We provide information and regular updates to our employees and communities of interest about Teck’s response to COVID-19. 

COVID-19 Protocols and Prevention Measures

Information and updates about COVID-19 protocols and prevention measures are communicated via a number of internal channels, externally through response-specific web content and social/traditional media, and through direct engagement with communities of interest.

Leadership Communications

Teck’s leadership, including the President and CEO, members of the company’s senior management team, and operational general managers, communicate regularly with employees to provide updates on a range of pandemic-related topics, including Teck’s response to COVID-19, new and expanded employee support services and programs, and company position and outlook.

New and Expanded Communications Channels

We have introduced a number of new communications while expanding others to ensure our employees are receiving regular and timely updates, including virtual townhalls, an SMS text alert system, digital signage, and dedicated COVID-19 response sections on our employee intranet and corporate website, https://www.teck.com/​/updates and https://www.teck.com/bestdefence

Employees as Courageous Safety Leaders

We provide opportunities for our employees to demonstrate courageous safety leadership through participation in peer-to-peer communications. Our Stopping the Spread. It Starts with Me. and Speak Up to Stop the Spread campaigns provided employees with a forum to offer a personal perspective on the importance of stopping the spread of COVID-19 at work and in the community.

Recognizing Our Employees

We recognize our employees’ commitment to safeguarding the health and safety of their co-workers, loved ones and communities throughout the pandemic. This recognition is at the local and corporate level and shared across our internal channels, like Connect, our employee magazine, and on our social channels.

Best Defence

We have partnered with Karina LeBlanc, former Olympic women’s soccer goalkeeper for Team Canada, and Gary Medel, member of the Chilean national soccer team and the Italian club Bologna, to address pandemic fatigue and promote the critical importance of continuing to follow protocols and preventative measures. The Best Defence campaign is underway internally and across Teck’s social channels.   

Employee Feedback, Questions and Concerns

Employees are encouraged to send any feedback, questions or concerns to a dedicated email address: covid-19@teck.com