Walking the safety talk

Thirty-four employers were honoured at the seventh annual Canada’s Safest Employers awards gala on Oct. 24 in Toronto.

“Tonight, we recognize companies who truly walk the safety talk,” said Amanda Silliker, editor of Canadian Occupational Safety (COS), which puts on the awards event.

“The most senior leaders don hearing protection and goggles when visiting the plant floor. The safety team considers all areas of OHS, including employee wellness and psychological safety, and field-level workers regularly speak up when they see a potential hazard.”

Many benefits to safety

Neil Sternthal, managing director of Canada, Australia and New Zealand for Thomson Reuters (publisher of COS and Canadian HR Reporter), elaborated on the importance of having strong occupational health and safety practices because it means so much more than just life or death for workers.

“It’s of critical importance for your company’s and your organization’s productivity, profitability, employee engagement, talent attraction and talent retention. It’s also critical to what we all associate with our brands,” he said.

“Tonight, we celebrate those who understand the importance of workplace safety and we’re inspired by their stories, their examples and their best practices.”

It’s “mission critical” to ask employees to ensure safety is of the utmost importance, said Sternthal, and all employees, no matter where they are and what they do, must be protected.

Todd Humber, publisher of COS and Canadian HR Reporter, said it’s refreshing that there are no trade secrets when it comes to health and safety.

“Ask a safety professional, ask a foreman, ask a worker: ‘How do you keep your workers safe?’ They’ll stop what they’re doing. They will tell you. They will take the time to explain, to walk you through their best practices, to show you the preferred harness, lifting technique — you name it.”

Strive for improvement

The keynote speaker for the night was Eldeen Pozniak, president of the International Network of Safety and Health Practitioner Organisations (INSHPO) and director of Saskatoon-based Pozniak Safety Associates.

She stressed the need for employers and workers to make a difference in the world of safety, and to continue to strive for constant improvement.

“We are celebrating being the difference. Being the difference to make sure moms and dads and daughters, husbands and wives go home at the end of the day,” said Pozniak.

Having structure within a company means there are “policies and procedures in place” — puzzle pieces to make for a successful safety program, she said. But, structure needs to be backed by a solid safety culture, where workers want to be safe, know how to be safe, and there’s follow-through — in a way that workers don’t even realize that they are “doing safety” because it’s engrained within them.

Pozniak also talked about her favourite safety video, which features a dancing mouse attempting to steal a piece of cheese from a mousetrap. The mouse wears personal protective equipment, uses proper lifting techniques and is aware of the danger the trap imposed. But, suddenly, a broom he does not see squashes him.

The video illustrates why it is important to recognize and understand workplace hazards and their corresponding risks in order to adequately prepare for them, she said.

Companies that have a basic “stop, think and act” philosophy succeed when it comes to safety, and all of the winners this year have adopted that approach, said Pozniak.

She congratulated the winners for helping Canada’s safety culture move forward and progress because, all too often, someone’s family member has been the victim of a workplace injury — and sometimes they pay the price with their lives.

Pozniak shared a personal story about her father, who went to work in the early 1990s and became so severely injured after an incident at work, he only lived seven days longer. For five of those days, he was brain-dead.

She then thanked the crowd for continuing to make a positive difference.

Everyone in the room understands the importance and benefits of a safe workplace, said Humber.

“But we can’t be complacent. We have to teach our children it’s OK to say no. We have to continue to beat down the locker room mentality of sucking it up, of getting the job done quickly at all costs, and teach everyone it’s safe to speak up,” he said.

“Because of the work that you do, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters are all safe at home tonight during dinner with their families, just as we’re gathered here.”

Alexia Kapralos is the assistant editor and videographer for Canadian Occupational Safety.

Canada’s Safest Employers

Canada’s Best Health + Safety Culture

Gold: Borger Group of Companies

Silver: GE Healthcare; Techmation Electric & Controls

Manufacturing

Gold: Celestica

Silver: Durabuilt Windows & Doors; CGC

Mining and Natural Resources

Gold: Cementation Canada

Silver: Ausenco Engineering Canada; De Beers Canada

Building and Construction

Gold: Borger Group of Companies

Silver: Walsh Canada; Kenaidan Contracting

Health Care

Gold: GE Healthcare

Silver: Calgary Laboratory Services

Transportation

Gold: Jazz Aviation

Silver: Westcan Bulk Transport; Voyageur Transportation Services

Public Sector

Gold: Sudbury & District Health Unit

Silver: Public Services Health & Safety Association

Oil and Gas

Gold: Weatherford Canada

Silver: Flomax Compression; Pronghorn Controls; Techmation Electric & Controls

Hospitality

Gold: Horizon North

Silver: Niagara Casinos

Retail and Services

Gold: BGIS

Silver: CHEP Canada; Morguard

Utilities

Gold: Toronto Hydro

Silver: Oakville Hydro Electricity Distribution; Peterborough Utilities Group

Young Worker Safety

Gold: Techmation Electric & Controls

Silver: Walsh Canada

Wellness

Gold: Niagara Casinos

Silver: Packers Plus Energy Services; Quadra Chemicals

Psychological Safety

Gold: Niagara Casinos

Silver: Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation; Pickering Public Library