Canadian Occupational Safety

20 Canadian Occupational Safety | www.cos-mag.com W orkers at BGIS are expected to "Take two for safety." Before they start any job, they must take two minutes to identity hazards, ensure they have all the necessary tools, are familiar with proper procedures and are in the right mindset to do their work safely. "That's all it takes is two minutes to stop and think before you perform the work," says Peter Papagiannis, COO of BGIS, a provider of real estate management services, headquartered in Markham, Ont. "I would suggest that is probably one of the most important parts of our program." Whether it's the first time a worker completes a task or the 100th time, BGIS wants him taking two minutes for safety. To keep this practice top of mind and engage workers, BGIS held a video contest around it during North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week. BGIS deploys hazard stations within each client site that include details about all known site-specific hazards, safety data sheets, building materials, results of indoor air quality assessments and any other relevant safety information. "In order to protect anyone that comes into the building, you need to know what's in the building and the history of what's happened in that building," says Mary Lou Sinclair, director of health, safety and environ- ment. "If there's a new person who is looking after the building, they have at their disposal all the information at those hazard stations." A toll-free 24-7 contact number for BGIS health and safety support can also be found at the hazard station, should there be any questions or concerns from any of the work parties present on site. When a BGIS subcontractor is found at fault of a hazardous occurrence, BGIS's red flag process puts them under significant scrutiny. The work is temporarily suspended while BGIS reassesses whether or not the subcontractor is adequately qualified to conduct the work. The subcontractor's policies, procedures, training records, tools and personal protective equipment are examined. "We have a very serious conversation with them. We bring their leadership in and we ask them what they're going to do to make sure they correct it," says Sinclair. "The best solution is not always to say, 'You can't work for us anymore.' The best solution is usually a vendor who has learned from their issue and has raised the bar so it's not going to happen again." All 4,700 workers at BGIS are strongly encouraged to report near misses. They are given a yearly score based on their hours worked and the number of near RETAIL AND SERVICES GOLD SILVER CHEP Canada SILVER Morguard week, as a minimum, just to make sure it catches on," says Borger. Borger Group takes innovation seriously. An annual innovation fair sources ideas from workers on how to make business improvements. All 386 workers are welcomed to submit an idea. "One of the challenges I have always faced in the field is people presenting problems without really presenting a solution," says Hussein. "This allows the entire team to drive change, so you're not only presenting the solution, you need to implement the innovation so it takes life." Winners receive scholarships, cash prizes and trophies. But Borger doesn't just take the top five winning ideas; he implements as many as he can. This year he is aiming for 50 or 60 out of the 80 different ideas presented, he says. All participants are awarded Borger Bucks, an internal currency that can be redeemed for a variety of items including gift cards, event and sporting tickets and discounted premium safety gear. Once an idea is implemented, the innovators and everyone involved in bringing that idea to life receive a unique innovation coin, which initiates their entry into the Borger Innovation Coin Game. This elaborate and engaging game involves awards, discounts in the team portal, special draws, photo contests and much more. "The value of that coin is not to be underestimated. I ride out in the field every Saturday and they go, 'How can I get a coin?'" says Borger. "Everyone wants these coins." Also new this year is the AWARE (Actively Working Towards Real Education) decal program that identifies a worker's level of experience at Borger. Those who have not worked at Borger before or are returning after more than one year away are identified with a green AWARE decal on their hard hat for their first complete season. Those with two to five consecutive seasons receive a brown AWARE decal, five to 10 seasons gets a silver decal and greater than 10 seasons gets a gold decal. "We have construction workers come from several different outfits… and when they do hit our job sites, they are just not meeting our expectations with respect to safety," says Hussein. "If you just started at Borger, regardless of how much time you have spent in industry elsewhere, you will get a green sticker on your hard hat with the number 1 on it and that allows everybody to know you are still not familiar with everything that is expected of you at Borger." EMPLOYERS SAFEST 2017 CANADA'S BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION GOLD SILVER Kenaidan Contracting SILVER Walsh Canada Group of Companies E mployees at Borger Group of Companies have safety at their fingertips. Through the Borger app on their smartphones, they can access wikiBorger, a searchable database introduced earlier this year. Here they can find all safety- related information, including safe work practices, safe job procedures, job hazard assessment forms, checklists, emergency response plans, templates and every policy and detail for every activity performed by any Borger Group employee. Previously, this information was held in giant binders and was only available to leaders. "It not only holds the field accountable, but now the field can hold us account- able because they have that access to information," says Hassan Hussein, safety manager for Borger Group, a construction company based in Calgary. "And if anything is happening on the job site outside of what we have dictated should happen, they can call us on it." Bill Borger, president and CEO, pushes wikiBorger regularly on the Borger Broadcast, a weekly company-wide update from Borger and members of the leadership team. He also mandates supervisors mention wikiBorger on a regular basis. "They have a quota that they are supposed to mention it three to five times per misses they report — and the more, the better, says Sinclair. "The lower the score, the worse it is. If you don't find things, it's not that they're not there, maybe we're not looking hard enough." This program has created a culture of reporting. "We wanted to create an environment where there is a positive reinforcement for an identification of risk," says Papagiannis. "It supports the habits of watch- ing out for trouble." All meetings at BGIS — whether it be finance, sales, operations or client meet- ings —begin with a safety moment. It's an experience an individual has had or something to be aware of from a safety perspective. Some examples include watching out for kids on the road during back to school season, using proper lifting procedures, checking smoke alarms and safely shovelling snow. Anybody can put forth an idea and it may be work-related or not. "The more personal, the better," says Papagiannis. "That way safety's not thrust upon you, it's apart of you."

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