The facts are out and they’re indisputable. More needs to be done in terms of providing safe work sites in Saskatchewan.
With that clear message, a WorkSafe regional workshop was conducted at the Saskatchewan Energy Training Institute in Estevan on Nov. 4 with an agenda that focused on reducing work-related injuries.
Chris Coles, vice-president of Health and Safety Operation for Cenovus, the winner of the 2014 Safe Employer of the Year Award, provided some keynote information to the assembled luncheon audience.
Coles referred to the safety triangle approach the company takes to reduce safety-related incidents and their level of severity.
Underlying causes usually increase the severity levels, he said, and the company he represents had over 3,800 near miss incidents or events that required minor first-aid attention of a period of years. Recordable injuries have been tracked for the past five years.
Across the province, Coles noted that while less severe accident rates are declining, the serious and fatal injuries are flat or rising, which is a cause for concern across all industries.
Cenovus, he noted, had no fatal incidents and only four lost-time injuries among an employee base of several hundred people. They had 26 near misses or minor first-aid happenings.
The characteristics of these incidents are also tracked, and Coles said it was noted the most common causes were employees doing jobs that differ from their regular routines or where high energy sources are present and when a facility is under construction. On-site contractors pose some significant challenges when they don’t necessarily comply with the hiring company’s standards, he said.
The rate of incidents was also tracked on a monthly basis with the higher numbers coming, as expected, during the June to August period.
Coles also said events that could prove to be life-altering in scope cannot be ignored, and he noted 40 such incidents happened within the company in the past year with 36 of them involving outside contractors. He also said incidents surrounding oil service rigs, are still happening at an unacceptable level.
Work such as rigging, completions or activities involving heights, usually bring out the larger risk factors.
“Life saving rules mitigate life-alterning incidents,” Coles said in conclusion.
Earlier in the day, Michelle Zyla, senior employer services specialist with the Workers’ Compensation Board, provided information regarding online services for employers.
“I provided an overview of the options available and the documents required,” she said.
She added that her presentation included such things as references to payroll system and how WCB submissions need to travel in the chain for approval.
Claims management issues were also provided by Don Seidlitz, the WCB team leader at the workshop.
Randy Seeman, who got to represent two factions, as the United Mine Workers Local 7606 for Westmoreland Coal and Sun Life, said he emphasized on and off-site incidents and how they relate to the insurance coverage.
“I was asked to represent the carrier as well as the work related issues. I think it went all right, but it could be a bit tricky trying to cover both sides,” he said with a grin.
Seeman said on the job, the injured worker or employee who is off the job on health-related matters, is tracked from the moment of injury to the point where they return to work. He said seasonal adjustments are made for work of that nature. He said right now the company with 325 unionized employees and about 400 employees in total, are currently tracking 41 cases of injuries or health-related items with 10 of them being long-term items.
The afternoon sessions included an address by Brad Compton, WCB account manager, who spoke on youth statistics and strategies as they related to the workplace and another session by Bob Ross, manager of Enform Saskatchewan, who spoke about raising the bar when it came to work-related safety issues.
Mission Zero and provincial injury statistics were also provided at the workshop that began with opening remarks from Gord Dobrowolsky, WCB chairman.
WorkSafe Saskatchewan is an injury prevention and workplace safety partnership between the WCB and the Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety.
Mission Zero campaigns address the impacts that injuries have on individuals, families and fellow employees.
