– Very demanding – E24

A month ago, the Havyard shipyard in Hyllestad had to shut down for several weeks after an infection was discovered at the company.

A total of 81 people in the municipality with around 1,400 inhabitants tested positive for corona. All worked or had connections with shipyard employees, and most of those infected were foreign workers.

The shipyard’s director, Erlend Hatleberg, tells VG that the situation will be no less demanding after the rules for foreign labor are tightened.

– The situation is very demanding. It takes a lot, both organizationally and financially, to handle this. Everything gets more complicated and that increases costs, he says.

After the large eruption at Hyllestad ended and the shipyard was allowed to reopen, all foreign workers are required to perform two corona tests.

– No one can start working until the last test is negative. Many are now quarantined with us for seven to ten days.

According to Hatleberg, all projects at the shipyard have been delayed.

– Before the weekend, we had 270 workers in the shipyard. We should have been 150 more. We try as much as possible to hire Norwegian workers, but we cannot do without foreign labor, he says.

Here’s what Prime Minister Erna Solberg had to say about changes to national rules for foreign workers at Monday’s press conference:

• In order for employees coming to Norway from other countries to remain exempt from the quarantine obligation, they must take a negative test every three days and live in solitary confinement for the first few days in Norway.
• Workers who come from what the EU calls “red” countries must now be quarantined. The EU defines red countries as countries with more than 150 infected per 100,000 during 14 days.
• Workers from these countries, such as Poland, France, the United Kingdom and Spain, will have to be quarantined for ten days in this country before they can start working.

Solberg emphasized at the press conference that companies with many foreign employees need a little more time to adjust to the new rules.

– Therefore, the new quarantine provisions for the entry of foreign workers apply from midnight until Saturday, October 31. The rules will not have retroactive effect.

Solberg said importing infections in relation to foreign labor is a growing problem.

– In recent weeks, around one in ten cases of infection has been linked to workers in Poland. So we must take stricter measures to limit the infection. So we put the measurements where there is the greatest need.

Director Jan Ertesvåg of the Aker shipyard in Egersund says that despite the stricter rules, they will recommend their suppliers in Poland to test employees before leaving for Norway.

– It is still important to confirm that staff traveling to Norway to work do not include the infection in quarantine.

In order for employees coming to Norway from other countries to remain exempt from the quarantine obligation, they must take a negative test every three days.

– They are usually Swedish and Danish, but they make up a very small part of our workforce.

Ertesvåg says that there is now the possibility of a labor shortage in Norwegian industrial companies.

– We do not know how the new rules will be received in Poland, when we cannot offer a rotation scheme. It will be interesting to see if anyone refuses to go to work in Norway now, he says.

At the three Vard Group shipyards in Møre og Romsdal, all workers from abroad undergo two tests and are quarantined until the latest test is confirmed to be negative.

This is what information director Hege Akselvoll en Vard reports to VG.

– In total, we have carried out more than 3000 tests. 17 people who have come from abroad have tested positive, says Akselvoll.

– In some cases, we have used the exemption provision in the regulations for business critical personnel. But it has only been a matter of a few, and then we have established our own work corridors, where they have been separated from the rest of the staff.

Akselvoll says that Vard currently has a hundred people in quarantine. Everyone who lives on the barracks platforms in the courtyards has a private room with their own bathroom.

– We do our best to ensure the safety of both employees and the local community, and we work closely and well with the local healthcare system.

Knut Sunde, director of industry and industrial policy at Norsk Industri, says that, in general, the industry understands that regulations should be tightened when all of Europe has a major problem and the risk of import infection increases.

– At the same time, most industrial companies have very good routines for handling this. We went out early with the infection control counselors. Many companies have gone way beyond what the covid-19 regulations have done.

Sunde characterizes the development in Poland as regrettable.

– There are many Poles flying to and from Norway, and it will be more difficult in the future as Poland has had a poor development. We note that there will be a ten-day quarantine.

– What are the consequences of the new regulations for companies?

– It will certainly be more expensive with foreign labor. It was already expensive, but now it’s getting even more expensive. We are not necessarily excited about that, but we understand that, especially given the situation in Poland and the UK. It is an unfortunate situation, of which we simply must take note.

Sunde emphasizes that the industry is interested in helping to reduce covid-19 in Norway and assuming its share of the responsibility and costs, even though it is starting to get very expensive.

– Then we just have to cross our fingers to make the new measurements work, so that later we can smooth them and get more proportionate measurements then.

– What do you mean?

– There are some nuances of the measures that the National Institute of Public Health wants and what the government adopts. In that room you have to weigh what is necessary. It is the government that adopts the measures and not FHI, that makes us happy.

– Which companies will be the most affected by the measures presented today?

– There are especially large shipyards and offshore shipyards in Norway that depend on several hundred guest workers from abroad. And if it is not possible to use foreign guest workers, these companies will have a problem.

– If we only think about health prevention, there will be fewer jobs. It is the government’s job to balance pure health prevention with consequences for working life.