The company, which operates the North West Shelf venture, Greater Enfield Project, and Ngujima-Yin FPSO, and Pluto LNG facility in Western Australia appealed to the state government for an exemption to COVID-19 restrictions which would ordinarily require FIFO workers travelling in the state to isolate within a hotel room for 14 days before conducting work. 

The exemption was approved, and now allows Woodside's FIFO workforce to leave their rooms for exercise for a limited period of time. Workers may leave their rooms to a designated, segregated area, isolated from community access. 

According to a Woodside spokesperson, the request was made to the WA government in an effort to boost worker mental health as well as physical health, during a particularly challenging time amid the COVID-19 pandemic and Australia's hard border closures. 

"With the mental health and wellbeing of our people as a priority, we have received approval for our workers, while undertaking 14-day isolation at a particular facility, to leave their rooms as that facility for a limited period of exercise," Woodsides spokesperson said. 

Woodside has not recorded any positive COVID-19 cases at any of its offshore or onshore facilities. The company, along with the broader oil and gas industry, was commended for its response to the global pandemic. 

While the international upstream oil and gas sector has been hit hard by outbreaks of coronavirus - with a massive cluster of more than 800 workers at the US$21 billion Arctic LNG project just one of many - Australian oil and gas companies have had zero outbreaks.