New supervisors put through a one-on-one program, exposing them to safety across entire organization
When an employee at Hydro Ottawa is promoted to a supervisory role, the individual is relieved of all duties and reassigned to safety training for a minimum of three months.
Here, the new supervisor is immersed in the Safe Supervisor Program, which is designed to give the supervisor an understanding of what safety looks like for the more than 650 employees across the organization — not just in the department or area she will be overseeing.
“For the first day, we go through a specific set of questions that I have just to understand their knowledge,” says Denis Chenette, Hydro Ottawa’s trades and safety specialist. “Then we tailor the three months to them.”
It was this attention to detail that won Hydro Ottawa the National Outstanding Achievement Award at the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering’s (CSSE) annual conference, held in Montreal this past September.
“In reviewing all of the other nominations, this one truly stood out because they saw a need in setting out proficiencies and abilities,” says Perry Ruehlen, CSSE assistant executive director. “Taking the time out to second them to the human resources division and giving the supervisor that one-on-one attention was a big part of the reason why they were selected.”
Nearly seven years in the making, the Safe Supervisor Program initially started off as a six-month program, but has been refined to just three months.
“The six months was difficult for operations. It’s not easy to take an operational person away for half a year,” Chenette says, adding the program is quite intensive in its current state.
Part of the program takes place in-office, but a large portion sees the supervisor in the field, giving her the opportunity to really experience all facets of the organization. Supervisors learn about the concepts around due diligence and are then expected to apply that knowledge in the field later on in the program.
“We knew we had to do something to make sure these new supervisors knew the whole concept of supervisor responsibility,” Chenette says. “We really designed it to suit our needs.”
The program has five focus areas: general occupational health and safety knowledge, safety communications, inspections, incident investigation and specific projects.
General OHS knowledge
The general OHS knowledge component of the program normally takes around two weeks and provides the supervisor with an extensive overview of OHS legislation, along with best practice standards in the hydro industry.
“We talk about our own internal management system and how that applies to their role as a supervisor and how to use it,” Chenette says. “Then we really get into the due diligence and reasonable precaution.”
Supervisors are introduced to tools and personnel that can be used as resources.
“We sort of create an internal network for them, so they’re never really alone in making a decision as they start their supervisor term,” he says.
Safety communications
Supervisors may be required to make OHS presentations or participate in safety meetings. So the new supervisor is given training to effectively communicate to others and conduct meetings.
The supervisor is required to conduct a meeting as part of the training.
“Afterward, we give them the pros and the cons of their work because it becomes their job,” he says.
Inspections
Supervisors are exposed to inspections conducted by safety officers, from spot inspections to new processes analysis.
“We actually go out and do several types of inspections,” Chenette says. “We inspect worksites, we inspect equipment, we inspect substations, we inspect training yards — they’re exposed to the entire operation as much as possible.
The supervisors are then expected to follow up on their findings, whether positive or negative.
Incident investigations, hazard near misses
As much as possible, the new supervisors are introduced to incident investigations by participating in ongoing investigations.
“We work with a safety specialist because they may have ongoing investigations,” he says.
Supervisors are taught how to survey the scene, how to take proper notes and how to ask questions. They are then expected to assess the situation and make effective corrective actions or recommendations.
Specific projects
Any one of Hydro Ottawa’s 89 supervisors may be called upon over the course of their career to participate in projects, such as writing a new procedure or work standard, Chenette says.
“When those opportunities present themselves, I partner them up with whoever may be tasked with that initiative,” Chenette says. “For example, by the time the last supervisor finished up in September, he was working on three operational work instructions that directly impact his work.”
The bigger picture
As a supervisor who has been through Hydro Ottawa’s Safe Supervisor Program, Rob Cameron says he was better prepared for the job because of the experience.
“It gives us a much bigger picture on how to keep our people safe by educating our workforce and documenting that,” says Cameron, distribution operations supervisor.
Being trained on how to present effective meetings is something Cameron is truly grateful for.
“Finding relative topics to discuss and being able to research them and present them at safety meetings has really helped,” he says. “I also appreciate being well prepared at safety meetings because I can cut down on time and have everything well organized for presenting.”
The Safe Supervisor Program was implemented in 2011 and has five graduates. A sixth participant will be beginning later this year.
