CASE STUDY

Teck workers sleep easy at Carmen de Andacollo lodge

Lodging at AndacolloTeck’s hypogene project at the Carmen de Andacollo mine in Chile has brought 2,700 contractor workers to the site over the past two years. But rather than building a construction camp to house these workers, Teck has set up an innovative housing system - the lodging network of Compañia Minera Carmen de Andacollo. The lodging network allows workers to rent rooms from local homeowners. It benefits both workers and the 1,300 residents of Andacollo – 300 homeowners and 1,000 community members who supply goods and services to the network.

Quality accomodation

Development of the lodging network started in early 2007, with a survey of the local communities for potential lodging houses. Homeowners who were interested registered their houses at the Municipality of Andacollo and provided their background information. In March and April 2007, a pilot project was carried out in 10 houses designed to accommodate a total of 80 workers.

Standards were developed to ensure a consistent quality of accommodation. The standards cover meal preparation and hygiene, sanitation, furniture, laundry facilities and other amenities. An external company was hired to manage the ongoing allocation of beds and to ensure that the quality standards are upheld. Home-owners and community members involved in the lodging network received training in billing, accounting and hotel management.

"A great opportunity"

Currently, there are 52 lodging houses in Andacollo and three in Coquimbo, with a capacity to house 1,750 workers in shifts. Most workers come from cities such as Santiago and Copiapó and stay in the network for 14 days while they are on shift, returning to their own homes for their seven days off.

Carmen de Andacollo financed the lodging network for US$345,000. A payment plan has been established for the home-owners to repay 80% of this investment.

Roxana Vega, a homeowner, describes the experience as “a great opportunity, because it has provided an important increase in income for our family, which has allowed us to provide additional education for our children, to improve our house and to save to make our future dreams come true.” Marcelita Pizarro, another lodging house owner, agrees and points out that her “earnings stay here in the community, with the people who work with me, at my lodging house, in the stores and in the payment of taxes and utilities”.

Workers value the lodging network because it has allowed them to integrate into the community where they are working. Sergio Cardeñas, a piping foreman of Salfa Corp. said: “This is the first time I have received such personalized service. In all of the other places I have worked, we were given money and then had to look for a place to sleep. These houses are very cosy because they have the ambience of a home.”

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CASE STUDY DETAILS

Published
30 July 2010
Company
Teck

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