Mill Stories
Dryden Mill conducts safe maintenance outage during pandemic Article by Domtar Newsroom and S. Richard
Maintenance operations are a challenge for mill managers and their teams during the pandemic. While some have delayed their outage, others have decided to maintain their original schedule to preserve the industrial assets as well as the local economy. The experience of Domtar’s Dryden pulp mill in Northwestern Ontario, Canada, is quite inspiring in that respect.
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scheduled maintenance outage is a critical part of any mill’s operation. The downtime gives employees an opportunity to complete necessary maintenance that isn’t possible during normal operations, and it ensures the mill continues to run safely and efficiently. t s also important to the community. Vendors and contractors who travel to the site to assist with the outage support the local economy by staying in hotels, eating in restaurants and shopping at local businesses. Earlier this year, everything was proceeding according to plan for the Dryden Mill’s spring maintenance outage. The small community of about 8,000 people located in Northwestern Ontario, anada, as also preparing for an in u of about vendors and contractors. hen the pandemic started, and ryden ill anager Marie Cyr and her team had some tough decisions to make. hould they proceed ith the maintenance outage f so, could they ensure the health and safety of employees and contractors? Could they maintain proper social distancing? Could the facility manage outside visitors in accordance with public health regulations ould the in u of outside or ers affect the health of people living in Dryden?
COLLABORATION ENABLES SAFE MAINTENANCE OUTAGE With support from Domtar’s corporate leadership, the team decided to proceed with the maintenance outage, but it designed a reduced work scope that focused only on tasks deemed essential for the mill s safe and efficient operation. ore or ould be performed by mill employees, reducing
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PAPERFIRST MAG autumn 2020
