Canadian Occupational Safety

October/November 2016 27 UTILITIES AND ELECTRICAL CONSTRUCTION UTILITIES AND ELECTRICAL "That was a big undertaking, and we're really proud that we are appealing to such a wide audience to try and get feedback from everyone," says Harris. It also developed a subcontractor management development program. The program focuses on competency, supervisory safety awareness and fi eld-level training in the sub-trades. The goal is to provide mentorship and thus improve safety performance within the trades. The company also replaced its long-time manual spreadsheet system of tracking safety data with a safety management software system, Harris says. "This helps us mine the data. We can now track and trend, look at the at-risk behaviours, and we can adopt corrective actions much quicker," she says. "The idea is to be as pro-active as we can when we see a sub-standard safety condition." EllisDon operates across Canada and around the world. Stuart Long, Vancou- ver-based western regional safety director, says its biggest challenge is providing consistency in its construction safety program across so many diverse markets. In B.C., EllisDon worked with the University of British Columbia and B.C. Construction Safety Alliance to develop an online silica exposure control plan. "This is a very cool tool to help contractors at any level to produce silica exposure control plans," says Long. The company has also been working with the B.C. Ready-Mixed Concrete Association to put together a best practice for the training and certifi cation of concrete pump and placing-boom operators. Long hopes it will be adopted across Canada and in other countries. EllisDon works hard to improve safety, Long says, because it is a people-driven organization. "People are the number 1 resource we have. And we have a moral obligation to provide as safe a workplace as possible." Chemco Toronto Hydro Borger Group of Companies Burlington Hydro I f there is a constant focus on safety at PowerStream, an electrical distribution company based in Vaughan, Ont., it is largely because of the hazards workers are exposed to, says Henry Winter, director of human resources and health and safety. As well as working near high- voltage apparatus, power-line crews work at heights and in extreme weather. The company's 550 workers are taught not only to watch out for themselves, but also for their co-workers. "Everybody has responsibility for the worker next to them. They understand their obligation to other staff regarding their safety," says Winter. For its fi eld workers, PowerStream introduced an electronic job planning document called a tailboard conference sheet. The new form, accessed on workers' computer tablets, records job steps, emergency plans, hazards and protective barriers. It has improved workers' ability to identify hazards and barriers, says Dave Yeoman, manager, health and safety. In the past, they would write down a hazard and, as a group, determine what protective barriers they should use. Now, workers pick a hazard from a drop-down menu, and a list of potential barriers appears. "Then they discuss and select the most appropriate barriers. That increases the level of safety for our crews and reduces their risk because it helps them to do hazard identifi cation," says Yeoman. "And selection of barriers is far more consistent." PowerStream promotes proactive reporting, he says. It wants employees to report not just actual incidents but also near misses and hazard concerns. Near misses are investigated as thor- oughly as actual incidents. An employee with a safety concern completes a form describing the perceived hazard and recommending a solution. The safety department then investigates, informs the employee of planned corrective actions and, if the employee agrees, implements those actions. "Our goal is that the proactive reporting will exceed reactive reporting," says Yeoman, adding proactive reporting helps the company identify situations it can use to promote widespread improvements. "It gives us many more opportunities to make the workplace safer for our employees. And workers play a key role in helping us, as management, make their workplace safer." This year, PowerStream's joint health and safety committee implemented a corporate-wide poster program called Join in on Safety. Every quarter, members select a topic and then design, produce and distribute posters on walls and TV screens throughout facilities. "They've had some great ideas, and because they review incidents, near misses and hazard concerns, they can see what is trending," Yeoman says. Winter says PowerStream places a huge emphasis on training and site inspections. Ten days are dedicated annually to safety training for line maintainers. Last year, managers conducted 2,400 individual site inspections. In the past three years, as well, the company has held more than 250 safety meetings annually. Yeoman notes PowerStream's operations department — the high-risk business — has gone 1.7 million hours without a lost-time injury. "All the things we do, they defi nitely make our place a very safe place to work." CONGRATULATIONS MEADOWBANK Congratulations to all Meadowbank employees and contractors on our Canada's Safest Employer 2016 - Silver Winner Today, we are recognized for a very signifi cant safety milestone by our Peers and by Canadian Occupational Safety. We have worked hard at establishing a great health and safety culture at our site. This is an incredible achievement and one to be extremely proud of. Achievements such as this don't come easy. It takes a lot of hard work, dedication, commitment and a willingness to change and make a difference. Everyone in the operation has contributed to this success. As a result of your hard work we have achieved over 2 years with no lost time accident which equates to over 5,300,000 hours worked without a lost time injury. Considering our location and the harsh conditions that we work in, we can truly be satisfi ed with our accomplishment. We can take much pride in what we have all contributed to and achieved, but we must not stop here. We must continue to strive for health and safety excellence. We depend on you, your family depends on you, Agnico Eagle Mines depends on you. We can do this by safely working, one task at a time and one job at a time, and one day at a time. We must use the TEAM approach, Together Everyone Achieves More. On behalf of all Management and Agnico Eagle Mines – we congratulate each and every one of you!!! "THE BEST WAY TO PREDICT THE FUTURE IS TO CREATE IT.'' Meadowbank Employees Working together for an accident-free workplace No Repeats – Our Stepping Stone to Zero Harm!!! 2016

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