KiwiRail has adopted new ways of working in order to protect its people and communities from COVID-19.
As an essential business, KiwiRail is continuing to move much-needed freight around the country and across Cook Strait.
Its rail network is also supporting the movement of essential workers in Auckland and Wellington metro areas.KiwiRail workers
Group Chief Executive Greg Miller says that KiwiRail is pioneering new operating practices and safety protocols, paving
the way for other industries which may return to work in the coming weeks.
"As an essential service, we've had to learn a whole new way of working.
"The safety and wellbeing of our people and our communities is paramount.
"We have provided additional PPE to our teams in the form of masks, gloves and visors, but more than that, we've
redesigned our work protocols to reduce risk even further.
"With our track maintenance teams, keeping people separated is critical to mitigate the risk of person-to-person spread.
"Team numbers have been reduced, and teams work in 'bubbles', not mixing across different sites.
"When travelling in vehicles, it's one in the front seat and one in the back, in order to maximise distance between our
people.
"Our teams are asked about any symptoms before work begins, and pre-work meetings and any other interaction take place
with two-metre separation between workers where possible.
"We also have designated observers on site who are ensuring our teams are maintaining safe working practices in this new
environment.
"We have shared our new processes with the government, because other industries will be able to learn from our
experience and implement similar processes when they come back on stream after this period of lockdown."
"We're proud to be playing our part to support New Zealand during the current disruption. Now more than ever, we need to
make sure that essential freight and workers can continue to move safely throughout the country," says Mr Miller.