Canadian Occupational Safety

F or Carillion Canada, diverse risks present both challenges and opportunities. Behind much of the company's complex construction, road maintenance, power distribution and service businesses are varying cul- tures, backgrounds and languages. "In one project, we might have por- ters pushing hospital beds around; in another we could see linemen work- ing high up a tower charged with 500 volts of electricity," says Alistair McIntyre, vice-president, health and safety, at the 3,850-employee company based in Concord, Ont. The opportunities lie in forging a unifi ed health and safety culture by changing the basic behaviour of individuals and groups to con- stantly look out for each other and pull together as one company. "Safe behaviour is what turns systems and procedures into reality," says McIntyre. Strategies for changing behaviour include simple safety mantras to help employees, supervisors and managers focus on attaining the same goal: zero accidents. To this end, the company recently put all its health and safety messages under a single brand called "ONE." "These messages all have one pur- pose and one goal — the health and safety of our people — but the danger of having so many separate mes- sages is that some can be missed or ignored," says McIntyre. All safety communication material features the word ONE, so there are posters with the phrases ONE Culture, ONE Chance, ONE Team, ONE Way or ONE Body (encourag- ing workers to take care of it, for example). Target Zero is supported through a number of other programs, including the Don't Walk By program, launched in 2011. A key performance indicator that encourages everyone to report at least one item for improvement on a monthly basis, it began with a total of 1,000 suggestions per month. Through various initiatives, the monthly total has risen to nearly 15,000 while acci- dent frequencies have dropped. "A great safety record doesn't happen by accident; it requires worker engagement," adds Alan Finlay, worker co-chair for the company's joint health and safety committee at the Niagara Regional Police Ser- vice Headquarters project in Niagara Falls, Ont. This includes identifying and challenging unsafe acts and con- ditions, learning from incidents and improving for the future. Building on the successful model of the safety initiatives, the company has recently introduced the "Health Like Safety" program that uses tradi- tional safety tools to manage health issues. These include clear targets (zero health-related incidents caused or made worse by work) and plans (working as one company). Part of the health drive is support- ing teams of employees participating in the Global Corporate Challenge, a workplace health initiative that encourages participants to take 10,000 steps per day. Many of the employees who entered last year's competition reported losing weight and increasing productivity — positive impacts on morale, health and well-being. E arlier this year, Hatch launched a project, Working Together Safely Fundamentals, to defi ne expected stan- dards of behaviour for its employees. "These are 10 fundamental state- ments about how we will behave as a Hatch employee. That's what we live by internally," says Dan Welshons, global director of health and safety at the Mississauga, Ont.-based company, which provides consulting, engineer- ing and project implementation services to the mining industry. The 10 fundamentals are based on common hazards the 2,700 Hatch employees face and range from basic principles, such as embedding safety in work planning to more specifi c ones, such as working at height and road and vehicle safety. Welshons says the 10 fun- damentals program has had a big impact on the business. "Lots of people say it makes a difference on our project sites and within our offi ce settings. It's a frequent topic of conversation, which helps keep the momentum going. We can all absorb them and see how they fi t into our everyday life at work," he says. Hatch's Visible Felt Leadership pro- gram promotes safety discussions at project sites. During conversations with contract workers, project man- agement teams ask workers if they have any safety concerns. During the last few years, Welshons says, this practice has been successful at improving safety. "It creates a good two-way conver- sation between contract workers and management teams. It engages lead- ers, it engages workers to make things better." Martin Cartier, regional director for construction, North America, says safety at Hatch is the responsibility of all employees, not just of health and Canada's Safest Employers G O L D BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION The opportunities lie in forging a unifi ed health and safety culture by changing the basic behaviour of individuals and groups to con- stantly look out for each other and pull together as one company. S I L VER Borger Group of Companies 14 Canadian Occupational Safety www.cos-mag.com G O L D MINING AND NATURAL RESOURCES road and vehicle safety. Welshons says the 10 fun- damentals program has had a big impact on the business. makes a difference on our S I L VER Ausenco Engineering Engineering Engineering S I L VER Cementation Canada YEARS By Amanda Silliker, Linda Johnson, E. Lisa Moses, Liz Bernier and Anastasiya Jogal For more information on Vancouver International Airport, visit www.yvr.ca or find us on Twitter @yvrairport. SAFETY TEAMWORK ACCOUNTABILITY INNOVATION At YVR, safety is a core value and our license to operate. We proudly share the 2015 Canada's Safest Employers Gold Award for Transportation with the thousands of people who work to make safety a priority at YVR every day. Group of Companies S I L VER Chemco Electrical Contractors

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