Canadian Occupational Safety

30 Canadian Occupational Safety www.cos-mag.com I n January 2015, Cementation Canada launched an awareness campaign aimed at preventing serious injuries. The underground mining development company, based in North Bay, Ont., started by identifying what it calls the 12 Basic Safety Principles. These principles became the focus of the fi rst phase of the campaign, says Ray Fortin, general manager, health and safety. For each prin- ciple, Cementation created an information poster and PowerPoint presenta- tion. These tools, along with a master campaign poster, were used by each of the project sites across the country to promote the safety principles to its 628 employ- ees. Each month, every site put up the theme-specifi c poster and organized a safety meeting at which workers watched the presentation and received information sheets on that month's safety principle. "The theme for the month — work- ing at height, for example, things you have to do to prevent a fall — is in their face at the site. And the following month would be another theme and another poster," says Fortin. Cementation is now about to launch the second phase of its serious injury prevention program, which will focus on critical controls for high potential hazards, Fortin says. The goal is to have each crew, before the start of a project, sit and discuss what serious hazards the current work entails and determine the critical controls it needs to imple- ment to prevent an injury. "We don't want to just give it to them. We want our site teams to be more involved. In other words, it's not just the safety guy who is going to give you documents," he says, adding site supervisors will be required to validate that the controls are in place. Each January, Cementation holds a re-orientation, Fortin says. All crews attend a presentation looking back at their safety performance the previous year and then forward to the year ahead. "Based on the kind of work we plan to do, what do we need to do this year to make sure we do the work safely?" he says. "It's our way to kick off the year on the right foot." In July, Cementation holds similar "step-down" sessions, where it reviews safety performance so far and identifi es ways to prevent incidents, he adds. "It's to get that re-focus on safety halfway through the year." Cementation is also developing a fi ve-year strategic safety plan, says Steve Wrixon, manager, health and safety. To start, it launched a review of the health and safety plans. Over the past year, it held information-sharing sessions with many clients — and even competitors — that have good safety records. "We want to see what others are doing, what's working for them. Maybe the mining industry is missing some- thing and we will get ideas about how we can implement something they're doing," he says. Cementation is now fi nalizing the implementation plan. Wrixon says the company has a long list of ideas about things it wants to do differently. "We're looking four or fi ve years down the road and how we can improve," he says. "We can't keep doing the same things over and over and expect better results." MINING AND NATURAL RESOURCES WELLNESS of the fi rst phase of the campaign, says Ray Fortin, general manager, health and safety. For each prin- ciple, Cementation created an information poster and PowerPoint presenta- tion. These tools, along with a master campaign poster, were used by each of the project sites across the country to promote the safety principles to its 628 employ- MINING AND NATURAL RESOURCES n January 2015, Cementation Canada P owerStream is about to undergo significant growth as it is merging with Enersource, Hydro One Bramp- ton Networks and Horizon Utilities. That's why it's so important to attract and retain an excellent team — and to take care of their well-being, mental and physical, says Henry Winter, director of human resources and health and safety at PowerStream in Vaughan, Ont. "One of the things that I think makes us unique from a wellness perspective is the company has a corporate vision to be socially responsible. And as part of that, the safety, wellness, health of our employees is actually sincerely driven by senior leadership," says Winter. The community-owned energy company provides power and related services to a population of more than one million immediately north of Toronto and in central Ontario, and currently has 550 employees. PowerStream's wellness initiatives have really grown over time, says Daniella Cogliano, human resources offi cer. "We started off with small initiatives… to full-bodied health programs. And it is a really robust program now," she says. "We hold initiatives on fundamentals like fi tness and nutrition, but we've really expanded in the past few years into the areas and growing topics such as mental well-being and mental health, and a lot around resiliency — meaningful initiatives beyond just the fi tness and nutrition." PowerStream has a solid employee assistance program, but it made sure it was Agnico Eagle Mines - Meadowbank Division Ausenco Engineering Canada MORGUARD.COM Morguard was recognized as one of Canada's Safest Employers, in the Retail and Services category, for an unprecedented fourth consecutive year. For us, this is a confirmation of two things: the leadership position we have taken in the real estate industry to develop health and safety programs that work, and the commitment we have to delivering on them. Congratulations to all of our fellow winners. LEADERS IN HEALTH & SAFETY Silver Award Retail and Services 2016

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