Canadian Occupational Safety

A ll 65 employees at Tarkett- Johnsonite Canada receive individualized, personal treat- ment when it comes to safety. Every single employee is video recorded completing all his or her job tasks. The safety team reviews the video and discusses any hazards or risks it sees with each employee and then puts the appropri- ate countermeasures in place. "The reason we do that is because we all come in different shapes, forms, skills… If I am six feet two inches and (another worker) may be fi ve foot something, he might be exposed to a reaching hazard and the risk of strain as opposed to myself, so we would implement a two-step stool for him in that area," says Hugh Le, health, safety and environment manager at the Waterloo, Ont.-based company that manufacturers commercial wall base. Anytime there is even an unsafe act or condition at Tarkett-Johnsonite, a root cause analysis is completed, which follows a standard template. "It allows everyone to go through and ask the right questions and the scenarios and be able to document all the data so we can look at trends, concerns and opportunities for improvement is really what it comes down to," says Scott Lackenbauer, operations manager. Every employee at Tarkett-John- sonite has a scheduled one-on-one safety discussion with a member of the management team every month. The managers hit the shop fl oor with the goal of driving behaviour-based safety and engaging the workforce. "They involve the person, they get feedback from a safety point of view — what works, what doesn't, is there anything we could do better?" says Le. "During this process, they are also able to identify any unsafe conditions or unsafe acts and do something imme- diately about it." Shifts at Tarkett-Johnsonite start with a safety conversation around what transpired the day before. From a voiced safety concern to a damaged cord, everything that happened on other shifts is communicated. The meeting also discusses incidents that occurred at other Tarkett facilities worldwide. Tarkett-Johnsonite has a safety train- ing matrix that is created every year, which includes legal, regulatory, man- datory and internal safety programs. All employees must undergo the full training annually. Individual abilities, language skills, literacy and risk are taken into account when developing and rolling out the training. Employees are given monthly pop quizzes to ensure they are following the proper procedures and if they do well, they get a $5 Tim Hortons gift card. "And they accept the fact that it is only $5," says Le. "That has created a culture and dialogue with these employees." fi nd any gaps that need to be fi lled. "It sounds strange, but we welcome audits," says Riddell. "We learn from them, so whether it's an internal audit, external audit, third-party audit, we welcome them." G O L D MANUFACTURING A individualized, personal treat- ment when it comes to safety. Every single employee is video recorded completing all his or her job tasks. The safety team reviews the video and discusses S I L VER S I L VER Siemens Canada Burlington Manufacturing Durabuilt Windows & Doors October/November 2015 17 AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION TODAY. FOR A POUND OF CURE TOMORROW. desjardins.com Congratulations to this year's winners of Canada's Safest Employers Award! Employer D salutes creativity and innovation in occupational health and safety! Employer D, scalable solutions from Desjardins for payroll, human resources and occupational health and safety management. information-sharing between all sites. When someone puts a near miss into the system, a message pops up on all managers' computers. As the issue is investigated and corrective action taken, new messages are sent out with updates. And the system even sends out reminders if a problem remains unresolved for too long. The company's "no blame" culture is also a critical component of the success of this program. "You can stop somebody, enter a SLIP and there's a corrective action item to correct it, but you're not blaming," says Riddell. "Put in a near miss, move on, we'll learn something from it." Quadra's propensity towards auditing sets it apart from the rest. Before the company initiates any commercial activity of a product it undergoes a "very rigorous" review regarding how it can be safely manipulated and transported, says Nawrin Kareem, regulatory affairs co-ordinator. It then conducts regular internal audits to make sure employees are handling the products safely and to determine if they need any additional training. Quadra also participates in several external audits as a member of the Canadian Association of Chemical Distributors. This allows the company to determine how its safety management system measures up and

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