Northern firms share safety achievements: job training and retraining, policies and safety committees factors in workplace safety. (Safety: Special Report).

Gorf Contracting, Sudbury Hydro and Miller Technology all have a fundamental commonality; they all take work safety very seriously. Perhaps that is the reason why the Safety Achievement Award Council has recognized them for their safety achievements.

Tom Laughren, quality assurance manager for Gorf Contracting in Timmins, says he is very proud of the employees at Gorf Contracting for achieving the Category 1 Award with more than 100,000 man-hours without lost-time injury in 1999 and 2000. The award is based on the number of man-hours against the lost time for injuries.

"It has got a lot to do with our employees," Laughren says.

The company hired a safety co-ordinator in 1991. Since then, injuries have been reduced through the years.

"We make sure staff has personal protective equipment, earplugs clothing safety belts, and fall arrests" Laughren says.

They also, maintain good housekeeping traditions.

"Things like oily stuff in the hallways are cleaned continuously and we are careful to store tools and stock," he says.

Staff is rewarded by spending a weekend at Bob's Lake where they share a game of golf and on Sunday a company picnic with family. In the past draws were made monthly for employees Laughren says. Now one of the few incentives the employees have to maintain a good safety record is the job itself.

"Ensuring safety helps to ensure your job," Laughren says.

"From the minute they walk in the door employees are given a handbook along with orientation sessions."

After the sessions are complete the 50 plus employees have a "tool box meeting" once a month where they discuss safety concerns and questions, which are brought forth by management and staff.

"It's a good way to develop better ideas for doing things."

Together management and employees help to make the company viable and safe.

"We are very safety oriented from the bottom up," he says. The award puts the company in line for favourable tendering prospects since the industry evaluates offers brought to the table through a scoring system. One of the major items on the evaluation list is safety, while the other is the fixed price.

Miller Technologies feels their award for no lost-time accident for 20 years has helped in job tendering as well.

"Anyone we work with knows we are part of the ISO and the Canadian Welders Association," Jason Reynolds, design technologist and health and safety representative for Miller Technology in the Seymour division

"Safety is No. 1, first and foremost."

Each month either he or one of the estimated 40 employees inspects the premises for possible safety concerns. Usually adjustments to the work environment can be rectified by discussing the concern with the people who are in charge of the workstation. If an upper-level concern is noticed, the section is then tagged. No one is'allowed inside the tagged location until Reynolds has approved it. In monthly staff meetings Reynolds reinforces how to keep loads centred on the forklift or cranes. This is also a time for employees to voice concerns about safety issues.

He also reiterates the need for good house-keeping in the workplace but says most of the rules on safety are learnt the minute you walk in the door. They are repeated constantly to ensure the employees know how important the company feels about safety.

"Employees are no good, to the family when they come home injured," he says

He wants to instill safe working habits in all employees so that it becomes just like breathing.

"It gets to be just like a reflex," he says.

If employees were found without protected equipment or working unsafe disciplinary action may follow, but the company has not had to use such procedures for a long while Reynolds says.

However, they do have disciplinary guidelines the management of the company follows. If an incident were to happen on the floor, which calls for disciplinary action, a warning would be issued to the employees responsible for the unsafe environment. Should the incident occur again with the same employees, a day or days off without pay would be the next alternative, Reynolds says.

Another company recognized for their success is Sudbury Hydro. The Electrical and Utilities Safety Association of Ontario awarded them a certificate for a year with no lost-time accidents. By the end of this month 90 employees who work in the building will have gained another award for 250,000 hours with no lost-time accidents.

"We make our employees aware of our good safety record," Gary Lavallie, risk-management officer, for Sudbury Hydro says.

Having routine safety meetings both in and outside the compound is one of the ways the hydro company offers protection to the employees.

"We have safety operation meetings once a month, with mostly power-line technicians and substation employees," Lavallie says.

"We also have quarterly meetings for the inside staff."

When new employees are hired they must undergo a three-day orientation program before setting foot of the floor. The company also believes in education as one of the best ways to remain protected on the job. Therefore, job training and retraining is very common in the company, Lavallie says.

"We have just sent seven people to do their basic certificate program."

To ensure safety programs are up to date the company manual is revised every four to five years.

They also have disciplinary rules in place, which are similar to Miller Technology's plant, except they call it the "four foot rule."

For instance, if in the primary area, which is place where 750 volts are present, employees were found not wearing their rubber gloves a warning and a letter would be issued. If that fails time off without pay would be the second alternative. However, they have not had to implement any discipline for a long time, Lavallie says.

Safety teams keep repeating the need to remain protected. For instance Lavallie is constantly telling employees about the need to ground lines before working.

"We need to de-energize and isolate lines from the power source," he says. "We don't consider lines dead until testing and a set of grounds are established."

Sudbury Hydro has adopted policies from the government, as well as instituting their own guidelines to protect employees. In the Health and Safety Act an employee is allowed to refuse unsafe work.

However, in the same breath, management is allowed to ask another employee to do the work provided they are told about the initial refusal by the first employe, Lavallie says.

"We took that one step further by instituting a policy stipulating no one would be asked to do work if someone else has refused," he says.

This may be one of the reasons the safety association recognized Sudbury Hydro. Their safety record is also mirrored in the WSIB reports for 2002. Sudbury Hydro powerline electricians have an insurance premium of $1.17 per $100 hundred of wages when other power telecommunications line technicians who do the same line of work are insured at $3.40, Lavallie says.

It is easy to parlay health concerns to employees when a functional health and safety committee is in place, he adds.

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