For years organizations gave out awards based on “lagging indicators,” which means companies would evaluate their success in health and safety based on the number of injuries or deaths.
Ontario Safe Workplace Association decided to take a different approach a couple of years ago, John Murray co-ordinator for program development and communications for Ontario Forestry Safe Workplace Association (OFSWA).
Instead of waiting for injuries to happen, Murray says they gave awards out based on companies that have become proactive in their approach to health and safety.
“What are the things that you need to demonstrate to prevent people from becoming injured or killed?” Murray points out as part of the criteria the association uses.
“Do you have good health and safety policies? Do you have on-site inspections? Are the machines guarded properly? Companies who make significant steps toward a series of indicators ... will be the considered for the award winners.”
Longlac Logging and Moose Creek Reforestation have both been acknowledged for their contribution toward health and safety in Northern Ontario.
In 2002, Longlac had zero injuries and zero costs for 101,326 workplace hours, according to the company’s WSIB claim record.
“To management, safety is priority No. 1 here,” says Guy St-Gelais, safety co-ordinator at Longlac Logging.
As a result, the company won the provincial OFSWA Safety Award in their category for 2002, and the 2002 Canadian Woodlands Forum Award for the most outstanding logging contractor in central Canada.
Longlac has implemented some key initiatives that assisted them in achieving these goals. First, they instituted monthly meetings where employees and administration collaborate on ideas for a safer workplace.
“(The meetings) made a lot of difference. The way we were doing it before with just a meeting a year does not mean much.”
With constant repetition employees understood the importance of safety in the workplace, St-Gelais says.
But it was not all that easy, he says. It took approximately 10 years for the 45 plus employees to realize the company was serious about health and safety in the workplace.
“...The company expects (employees) to do their share (of prevention).”
Second, they have workplace inspections every month. He says a lot of employees want to show him how good they are on the machine, but St-Gelais is not interested in that if they do not perform workplace inspections.
“Now they know every Monday I come around to do workplace inspection.”
Moose Creek Reforestation is another company with innovative ways of preventing injuries in the workplace.
April through July is when tree-planting employees have the most injuries like tendonitis or extended joints, says Bill Skene, president of the reforestation company.
To curb the injury rate he brought in an ergonomist to suggest some ways to help prevent injuries.
“He developed a program to help warm our people up in the morning before they start work and he also developed a program throughout the day to identify injuries before they become serious.”
Packages are now mailed to new employees in hopes that they begin physical exercise before starting the job.
“When (students) go from pushing a pencil to running a shovel it is quite a difference and it is very difficult work. So the more they can prepare themselves the easier it will be on their bodies.”
Since implementating the program in 1997, the injury rate decreased substantially and continues to stay low, says Skene.
In fact the program was so successful that OFSWA implemented it into their injury prevention booklet for tree planters.
