Gareth Owen

Review of Kearl Lake Oil Sands Project -...

Do not believe a word until you've talked to someo...

Do not believe a word until you've talked to someone who's worked there (which shouldn't be too difficult as the project has turned over 55'000 people in 30 months).
OK, the simple necessities are there - warm bed, hot shower, clean room (2m X 3m) and reasonable food (I've just had an enormous rare steak!). There's even a gym.
Unfortunately that's where civilisation ends.

Simple questions went unanswered - which mobile network functions, quality of internet connection - which are vital for any away-from-home worker. The answers, by the way, are 'Not Rogers' and 'poor' - there is a sign stating they are aware of the internet problem and that they have technicians working on it, the sign has been there for months. Nothing has been done. Would it be difficult to keep a stock of SIM cards on site?
Unfortunately for the away-from-home worker, things like a decent on site shop are quite lacking. There is a basic shop with items like pain-killers and toothpaste but forget boot brushes or polish (and it gets muddy here, outdoor footwear is banned indoors). We were refused permission to visit the nearest town as there is wildlife wandering around and we might bump in to it - for our own safety.

They're very safety conscious here. Very. They love the rules and the slightest infringement will lead to your "accommodation privileges being revoked" which is their sneaky bastard way of firing you with no repercussion as a different company supplies accommodation so the company that employed you can't be touched by unfair dismissal claims. A recent example was a passenger in a truck catching their seatbelt in the door as it was closed. He opened the door while the truck was moving and got sent down the road... as did the driver!!! How a driver is supposed to do anything about what his passenger is doing I have no idea. They weren't fired, they had their "accommodation privileges revoked" and were off site.
Answering back to the private security or admin staff will see you kicked out too. You're automatically 'wrong' no matter what the circumstances.

You're a smoker? Well you're going to love the good weather. Then it stops. You'll be outside with no shelter, a biting wind and temperatures down to -40 Celsius. This is one of the main reasons for me not returning - the office staff get a smoking tent but not the guys actually doing the work.

It's long hours here too. Forget the "40 hours plus overtime available" on your contract. You will be awake at 3:30am to get yourself ready, have breakfast, make your lunch and get outside to wait for your 4:45am bus to the site. You should return to the canteen before 7:00pm to get your dinner. Who's stupid idea was it to set up the camp an hour away from site? When you return, you get to battle thousands of other wireless devices to get an IP address and have virtually dial-up speed internet connection. You don't have a kettle or fridge in your room so your last chance of a coffee is 8:45pm before the canteen closes but there is a vending machine for cold drinks.

Don't forget to bring some of those liquid washing soap packs as the on-site shop has a ridiculous mark up on goods like this. Good luck with trying to get your washing done too, there's 2 washing machines for a 44 room accommodation block and you've got to eat your dinner in this 'spare time'.

Travelling shouldn't be much of an issue in the 21st century but hey, why let simple things like counting get in the way... My return flight was booked for a week after I was due to finish. Umm... maybe a little mistake? It would be if they hadn't done the same to the other guys too! Trying to get flights organised for days off also seem to be beyond the administration staff and getting responses of 'our printer isn't working' just shows what a bunch of morons are in control of your life. As for instructing me to lie on the government documentation so I could get health-care...