Some energy companies are slowly re-opening their offices, welcoming employees back as stay-at-home restrictions are eased and new social distancing measures are put in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Many have put up plastic shields around desks, established rules for the number of people that can ride together in elevators and devised new disease detection protocols, including taking the temperature of workers each day.
The first waves of workers will help to bring some life back to downtown and to the Energy Corridor, which have become ghost towns as offices emptied out in mid-March when most workers who could began working from home. The Houston area has about 237,000 energy workers.
Oklahoma pipeline operator Williams divided its employees into two teams. One team works at home for a week while the other works at the office and then they switch the following week. Williams said it plans to keep that plan in place through the end of June.
Some employees at Houston pipeline operator EVX Midstream Partners have already gone back to work as shutdown orders eased in Texas. The company plans to have everyone back by June 15, CEO Herb Chambers said.
Other companies are sending employees back in waves. The Houston oil-field services company Halliburton adopted a phased approach for employees to return to work sites beginning Monday with no more than 30 percent of the workforce, spokeswoman Emily Mir said.
Each phase will last at least three weeks to assess adherence to social distancing rules, the effectiveness of prevention measures and community transmission levels, Mir said.
Centerpoint Energy, the regulated utility in Houston, also is taking it slowly. The company plans to begin bringing back employees who have been working remotely on July 6. Initially, capacity in office buildings won’t exceed 20 percent, according to spokeswoman Alicia Dixon.
The timing of the return of other employees will depend on what the company learns from the first employees who return, she said. The company also understands that some employees may have concerns about vulnerable family members, child care and transportation and will work with them individually.
Managers will consider staggering start times, alternate work schedules or a continuation of telecommuting, CenterPoint said.
On HoustonChronicle.com: Office space: How to keep Texas workers safe as they return
Weatherford International, the Swiss oil-field services firm with principal offices in Houston, will reopen its Houston locations June 15. Employees will return in phases and be required to wear face coverings and practice social distancing.
The Greater Houston Partnership recommends that employers establish measures so on-site workers can maintain a distance of at least 6 feet while they work. The business group also suggests that businesses close communal areas — such as lunch rooms, break rooms, conference rooms and other places where people gather — to avoid unnecessary exposure.
The partnership recommends that companies remove any workplace rules that discourage employees from revealing that they’re sick so that workers who have symptoms of the coronavirus or flu stay home to prevent contamination.
“It is to a company’s advantage for sick employees to stay home,” according to the partnership’s guidance.
On HoustonChronicle.com: Houston companies prepare for return to office after Abbott reopens Texas economy
Energy companies, as well as grocers, hardware stores and others, were considered essential by state officials from the beginning of the pandemic. Those companies never closed their headquarters but sent upwards of 95 percent of their workers home to work, leaving behind only those critical to plant operations.
At NRG Energy, one of the biggest generators of electricity in Texas, that included employees in the power plants and real-time trading desks who continued to report to work as normal while adhering to safety protocols.
Now NRG is targeting September to begin a phased return of most employees, NRG spokeswoman Pat Hammond said.
While many companies are bringing employees back into the fold, some are opting to wait, preferring to keep their employees working from home for the foreseeable future. Houston oil-field services company Schlumberger has told its employees who can work from home to continue to do so.
So are Houston oil-field services company Baker Hughes and British oil major BP.
“Our guiding principle is that staff should only come into the office if it is more effective for them to do their roles there,” BP spokeswoman Megan Baldino said.
Sergio Chapa and Paul Takahashi contributed to this report.
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Key Houston workforce prepares to bring energy back to offices - Houston Chronicle
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