Canadian Occupational Safety (COS) magazine is the premier workplace health and safety publication in Canada. We cover a wide range of topics ranging from office to heavy industry, and from general safety management to specific workplace hazards.
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24 www.cos-mag.com Canadian Occupational Safety JAZZ AVIATION will be implementing a new safety management software tool later this year, complete with a mobile app. Workplace inspec- tions will be completed on a mobile device, allowing pictures, geo-tag- ging and instant submissions to line management. The company's 5,425 employees across Canada are currently being trained on the new process. "It's very transparent. Personnel can follow the report: where it stands, the investigator. It will be a lot more proactive. And I think it will be appre- ciated by the employees to have it that way," says Captain Rod Campbell, Air Line Pilots Association occupational safety and health representative and employee co-chair of Jazz Aviation's national policy committee. In early 2018, Jazz Aviation, headquartered in Dartmouth, N.S., developed an internal classification system for all incoming safety reports to optimize investigative workflow and resources. A cross-functional safety investigations team reviews reports daily and assigns a classifi- cation between one and three. The system was inspired by the one used at the Transportation Safety Board. "It did encounter a little bit of resistance initially, but very quickly, it brought in line the expectations of AT BASF CANADA, hazards are taken extremely seriously and are tackled by various teams. First, leaders and supervisors evalu- ate how workers are doing their job, not if they are doing the job correctly, as part of the company's exposure reduction process (ERP). "It's breaking away from the mould in which we are looking for right or wrong, in which we want to have our supervisors and leadership have initial conversations where they watch somebody work and then give them feedback on what they see as safe or at risk," says Sean Cammaert, ERP implementation leader and interim EHS team lead for BASF Canada. The leaders also ask employees if they have any recommendations for how the company could make chan- ges to improve the safety of their tasks. Next, a steering committee made up of floor workers analyzes the site's his- tory of incidents and injuries and the contributing behaviours. They then conduct peer-to-peer observations and provide feedback. "Now you have leadership doing this and peers doing this. What it essentially is doing is we are changing the culture to more of a trust-based culture versus a fear-based culture around safety," Cammaert says. "[It's] generating more and more con- versations every single day around exposures on the site." Finally, all the information on the at-risk conditions is gathered and goes to the barrier removal team. Aptly named, this team removes the barriers real issue here? Was this a one-off or is this a trend that's leading that we should be paying more specific atten- tion to?" says Campbell. Late last year, the executive team began a national roadshow with stops in Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver that provided various operational and safety updates. Led by company president Randolph deGooyer, the event included all vice-presidents and directors of Jazz's main operational departments. All employees were invited to attend the town hall format discussion and they were encouraged to ask questions of the executives. The event was very well received and similar events will be planned in the future, Lue says. An important component of oper- ating an airline is having effective emergency response procedures. Jazz Aviation regularly participates in exer- cises with various airport authorities on responding to an active shooter, aircraft crash and bomb threat. Annually, a full-scale simulation is conducted with a mock emergency that involves many stakeholders, including first responders and mem- bers of the public to act as passengers and bystanders. The simulations can get "pretty intense," Lue says, but they are an excellent training experience and a good test of the Jazz emergency response plan. "Obviously, an accident is some- thing that we hope never happens; however, that being said, it's impor- tant to be prepared in the event it does happen, so the simulations are a great opportunity for the company to go through it [and] iron out any bugs they may discover," says Campbell. A couple of years ago, Jazz's pro- gram proved very helpful to another airline. When an emergency struck, the other airline was not well pre- pared, so Jazz's emergency response co-ordinator went through their checklist and helped the other airline navigate the incident. "When you're in an airport, you have a handful of airlines; if something happens at that airport, everybody is in a support function," Lue says. "We jump in there to provide whatever support we can." TRANSPORTATION GOLD both the investigative team and the employees. It actually increased the efficiency of the investigative team by 300 per cent," says Giselle Lue, man- ager of occupational safety and health. The classification system is particu- larly helpful in identifying where the safety committees can help out and which reports really do not require a high-level, thorough investigation. Yet another investigations program at Jazz Aviation is the Safety Manage- ment Activity Review Team (SMART). It gives the union a chance to review investigative activity and findings with the corporate safety investigative staff. "[And] it allows us an opportunity to better watch for trends. Is there a GOLD Chemistry We work to provide the best experiences for our employees by providing: modernniagara.com/careers/current-opportunities/ MAKING BUILDINGS WORK • Family friendly work arrangements • Opportunities for mentorship, learning and growth • Support for our families with EFAP programs • Ongoing commitment to a culture of health, safety, mental wellbeing and community engagement We have a safety culture, not just a safety program. Work with us!