Coronavirus: Pandemic Support Resources

COVID-19 Resource Hub
for Oil & Gas Pipeline Operators

Industry resources and employee wellness guides to support energy companies through the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic

with updates from:

A Message From Senior Leaders @ NuGen Automation

COVID-19 Resource Hub for Oil & Gas Pipeline Operators

Dear valued colleague,

Above all else, NuGen Automation is committed to the health and safety of our employees and the client portfolios that we continue to monitor and protect each day. Our approach to coronavirus COVID-19 is with with urgency and empathy.

Therefore, we recently entered into a fully-remote workforce with some exceptions to control room operations. Details in our contingency planning, along with other resources, can be found in the COVID-19 Resources Hub below. We hope you find these supportive in your overall pandemic planning efforts.

NuGen Automation remains as steadfast today in automating the energy community as we did when our innovation journey began in 2010.

If you have suggestions on how we can better support you, please email those to contact@nugenautomation.com.

Son Tran

President & Founder

David Panthagani

Vice President of Operations

#wereinthistogether

COVID-19 Resource Hub: Overview

Updated:
May 5, 2020

Business Continuity FAQ

How we're responding to coronavirus COVID-19

NuGen Automation is a critical operations facility. Our commitment to our clients still remains in our full preparation to operate assets in both normal and abnormal situations. The safety and health of both our customers and employees are perpetually top priorities for any situation.

With our response plan, we do not anticipate any impact to ongoing project and support activities.

How are you promoting a safe work environment during the coronavirus COVID-19?

NuGen has an internal Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity Plan already in place to provide direction to our internal teams and vendors in the event that a pandemic infection poses a health and safety threat to NuGen’s customers, employees, or otherwise threatens NuGen’s ability to effectively deliver continuous business services.

As part of our business continuity planning, NuGen has transitioned to a minimum level of critical on-site staff and requiring all non-critical staff to work remotely, when possible, so that we can minimize the amount of staff in our building while also keeping our own critical infrastructure secured, highly available, and redundant.

We are continuing to conduct business as usual while working remotely. NuGen does not anticipate immediate impact to ongoing project and support activities.

We have previously validated our infrastructure to allow remote working and have implemented our internal communication plan to keep our teams updated and informed.

How are you currently safeguarding for third-party control room operations?

NuGen is currently operating from multiple secured locations around the Houston area and has isolated each console into its own respective room for further separation.

We have proactively implemented a screening questionnaire for incoming controllers, and educating our people based on current recommendations. Additionally, all of our control centers and data center facilities have on site UPS (short term power backup) and commercial standby generators (long term power backup) as redundancies, as well as multiple communication providers and remote capabilities.

If Houston is put under a curfew or shelter in place order, we have communicated with the local authorities with usage of both Presidential Policy Directive PPD-21 and Executive Order 13010 (defining/prioritizing Critical Infrastructure) and a letter citing PHMSA and DOT regulations authorizing our people to drive to the control rooms as needed.

What additional measures have you taken to insure employee safety during the COVID-19 situation?

COVID-19 is an urgent and rapidly-evolving situation. NuGen Automation has implementing additional safeguards for our employees and contractors to help them identify and protect themselves from the coronavirus.

This includes mandatory protocols for anyone exhibiting early onset symptoms for the safety and protection of employees engaged in critical on-site operations. Extra communications and training around emerging details of the virus have been paramount for senior management.

In addition, NuGen has deployed extra procedures around disinfection and additional office cleaning throughout all of its facilities.

Is NuGen able to work with clients in-person during COVID-19?

We understand that clients need our support now more than ever, and that’s why NuGen is taking precautions to protect employees and clients during this time, including protocols for in-person meetings. All visitors in NuGen offices must fill out a form for permission to enter our facilities, which requires visitors to assess their potential exposure to and symptoms of COVID-19. All visitors must wash their hands before entering worker areas and maintain social distancing during their visit. No unnecessary entry is permitted for the Control Room.

For client sites, NuGen is prepared to support client protocols in every way possible. In addition to any client requirements to visit their sites, NuGen employees will observe regular handwashing and social distancing activities.