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Rock 101 listeners show they care about safety
Polygon Construction wins “I’m the bro’, but you’re the pro” contest
Richmond, B.C., September 21, 2009 —This summer, a joint initiative between Classic Rock 101, WorkSafeBC, the Construction Safety Association of B.C. and the Construction Safety Network, invited the radio station’s listeners to submit their company's on-site safety strategies for a chance to win weekly prizes — and be eligible for a grand prize draw.
Polygon Construction was the overall winner, selected from a field of finalists.
On Sept. 10, radio personality Bro’ Jake and representatives from all three sponsoring organizations presented the grand prize — a pizza lunch — to 130 Polygon workers at their Surrey job site .
“While having a good safety program and a great safety record is great, it wouldn’t be very productive or meaningful or even possible if you can’t get people to believe it, buy into it, support it, and implement it,” wrote Polygon safety manager Joe Collins, in their submission. “We need to give credit where credit’s due, the guy’s in the field…the pros.”
Polygon was chosen as a finalist based on several safety initiatives it implemented this year, including the following:
- Securing COR (Certificate of Recognition) certification
- Creating an online safety program for clients and workers
- Holding company-wide safety seminars, including due-diligence training for workers and supervisors, safety program review, risk assessment training, and first aid certification
- Developing a contractor pre-qualification program that assists companies with regulation and training, and certification compliance
- Developing a safety management database to manage all aspects of safety, from reporting and inspections to training and recordkeeping
- Setting up an online safety forum to hold safety discussions and share information
A sample of the entries received
Close to fifty submissions were posted on the Rock 101 website, covering a wide variety of safety tips and strategies. Here’s a small sample of the entries received:
Never climb ladders with tools in your hands, maintain a three point contact, two hands and one foot on the ladder at all times. Try to balance your tool belt; if tools are heavier on one side then redistribute the weight. Minimize what you carry in your tool belt, if they are items you will not use during the day then leave them behind.
—Arthur Wei, Ledcor New Westminster (finalist)
We’ve implemented a progressive disciplinary policy to help our workers (especially newer workers), understand we take safety seriously, and there are no excuses for not following the rules. We track all near-miss incidents, first aid incidents, and accidents, to ensure anytime an incident occurs with the potential for a serious injury, we can make all the workers aware, and provide additional training if necessary.
—Cairns Electric Ltd., Port Coquitlam (finalist)
Brighter Mechanical has implemented a return to work/stay at work program if an employee is injured, by offering light duties to the worker so they stay in contract with the company and feel like they are still contributing to the overall work.
—Ian Schutz, Brighter Mechanical, Richmond (finalist)
In order to avoid the reoccurrence of near-miss incidents, our safety manager announced a prize draw for all the near-miss reports received by the safety department to encourage and promote the use of these forms by the workers.
—Amir Merat , Lafarge Concrete, Coquitlam (finalist)
We use a three-tag scaffold tag system that is internationally used and recognized as a safety system to assist with control of scaffolding. Green indicates the structure has been inspected (daily) and it passed. Yellow indicates caution -- the safety representative will write on the tag what the issue is, and then relay the information to the team at the morning meetings. Red indicates danger, keep off. The tags are weatherproof, bright in color and have large symbols to visually indicate what is written on them.
—Anita Riddell , RTM Ltd. Victoria
Attitude is the number one thing that prevents accidents. That’s why I've installed a large sign at the entrance to the site that shows number of consecutive days without an accident, followed by the previous record of accident-free consecutive days. It’s a constant reminder of safety on the worksite and evokes a constant effort to keep setting a new record.
—Morgan Allan, North Vancouver
To view all the entries, visit the contest page on the Rock 101 website.
*The above excerpts have been edited for length and clarity.