Babcock has been supporting the Royal Canadian Navy’s four Victoria-class submarines since 2008.
By Newell Durnbrooke
Over the past several months, many companies have been tirelessly working to navigate the new challenges presented since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Babcock Canada is no exception. They have continued to deliver across all of the sectors they support in Canada, including civil aviation and nuclear energy, as well as vital programs such as the Victoria-Class In-Service Support Contract (VISSC).The company has also maintained a focus on introducing new innovations to market, while keeping the safety of their employees, customers and communities a top priority.
WORKING THROUGH COVID-19
At the onset of the pandemic, Babcock was quick to implement numerous proactive and precautionary steps to protect their frontline support teams. Through the support of their COVID-19 steering committee and risk management team, the company has worked tirelessly to monitor the changing environment and ensure compliance with local public health guidance. Non-essential work was shifted from onsite to remote working, with the help of their IT department who seamlessly supported the change without interruptions. Furthermore, Babcock immediately focused on providing their employees with flexible hours to meet the demands of working from home and additional mental health resources for those in need. As the company adjusted to this new environment, they have been closely monitoring the dynamic situation caused by COVID-19 and focussing on their business continuity plans, which have enabled the management of evolving developments related to COVID-19. Babcock has demonstrated their preparedness, having rolled out plans to ensure the continued safe operation of their facilities.
Babcock provides essential services across Canada. Their customers, and the communities where they operate, depend on the company to safely and reliably provide vital emergency medical services and aerial wildfire suppression services, as well as critical maintenance and repair of strategic assets such as Canada’s submarines. Throughout the pandemic, Babcock has continued to deliver, demonstrating their unwavering commitment to the people they serve. So much is regularly changing in this new environment, but the dynamic and flexible skills of each of their teams have contributed to their continuing success. Babcock has ensured that they are prepared, under any circumstances.
DELIVERING ON VISSC
Over the lifetime of the VISSC program, Babcock has continued to deliver through their considerable expertise and global experience. With over 4 million hours working on the Victoria-class submarines and almost two billion dollars in GDP impact to date, Babcock continues to support the further growth of Canada’s domestic industrial Naval ISS capability. The company and its partners have also placed a high importance on creating and maintaining over 1,000 highly skilled engineering, program management, scientific and technical jobs.
So much of this work is made possible by the dedicated commitment of Seaspan and BMT, who have been working with Babcock Canada since the inception of the VISSC contract. This incredible partnership has helped shape the ISS capabilities Canada has now come to rely on, and are committed to continuing to work together to deliver world-class submarine sustainment support now and into the future.
AERIAL EMERGENCY SERVICES
Throughout the pandemic, Babcock’s aerial firefighting and emergency medical services teams have continued to operate without disruption. The company has put many precautions in place to ensure safe service, and have deployed their aerial firefighting crews regularly over the past few months. In addition to their work in Manitoba, the crews have been supporting many other provinces in their wildfire suppression efforts. Additionally, in partnership with the Province of Manitoba, Babcock delivers on the safe transportation and specialized medical care that are the cornerstones of Babcock’s patient focused EMS operations. W
