Published on: September 05, 2023

On a busy construction site, messages that are short and to the point sometimes work best.

By Marnie Douglas

TC Energy, the pipeline owner of the Coastal GasLink (CGL) project, developed a safety program around the adoption of such a message: Stuff That Can Kill You (STCKY).

Since CGL started construction several years ago, employees have driven more than 200 million kilometres and worked more than 50 million hours. During high-risk work of this volume, one small error can create a serious or fatal incident, explains Mike Gibb, CGL’s director of health, safety, and security.

Now in its final year of construction, the CGL project is a 670-kilometre pipeline being built through northern B.C. It will transport natural gas from B.C.’s Peace Region to a gas export terminal in Kitimat on the west coast. During peak construction periods, the project employs more than 6,000 people.

Strong leadership and a firm commitment to continuously improving health and safety performance are the foundations of a strong health and safety culture. Leadership engagement has been fundamental to moving CGL and its prime contractors and workforce in the right direction.

One of the project’s prime contractors, Nadleh-Macro, is a partnership between Nadleh Whut’en First Nation and Macro Pipelines. Together they are responsible for construction in Section 5 of the route, south of Burns Lake. Once exposed to the STCKY program, the organization quickly adopted the concept. Toby Coyle, director of environment, health, and safety, explains this was mainly for two reasons: simplicity, and the value it generates through two-way communication and accountability between leadership and our frontline workers.

“The support and communication between frontline supervision and our workforce is integral because this collaboration then becomes the catalyst for adopting control measures to address risks. Open lines of communication foster confidence, understanding, and most importantly the implementation of controls,” says Coyle. “It promotes an interdependent safety culture at a crew level that expands throughout the project and organization as a whole.”

Using simple but effective language

Using safety terms such as “critical risk” and “hazard assessments” to such a large and diverse workforce wasn’t necessarily going to stick, notes Gibb. “Few will understand. But mention stuff that can seriously hurt or kill you and people pay attention.”

“When we know what’s STCKY about our job at any time, we can adjust and adapt to those risks and avoid a serious incident or fatality,” he adds. “We can significantly reduce the risk of a critical incident by better understanding STCKY.”

At the core of STCKY are three questions workers should think about and discuss with each other at the start of every workday:

1. What’s STCKY today?

   We all have an answer for this, and it will most likely differ based on our individual tolerance for risk and the work in front of us. Taking the time to assess and control for risks before we begin a task increases our chances of going home at the end of the day.

2. What are we doing about the STCKY situations and how are we protecting each other?

   Now that we have consciously identified what risks could be severe enough to kill us, the next step is to identify control measures to prevent that outcome and put them into place. The clarity and personal awareness this brings will generate proactive communication between leaders and their crews and set everyone up for a successful and safe working environment.

3. Is there more that we should be doing?

   In our ongoing development of a strong safety culture, this question must be continually asked by everyone in the organization — from the industry veteran to the new or young worker. And each response warrants the same consideration and effort to ensure correct and effective controls are put in place.

Navigating challenging mountainous roads

The project’s safety program grew from identifying the most dangerous activities and potentially fatal incidents that could occur on such a large project. CGL’s safety program focuses on what they call the “critical six”:

• Driving
• Steep‑slope work
• Pipe handling
• Mobile equipment and people
• Cargo management
• Pipe securement

Using STCKY, the team has been able to get worker engagement on not only identifying these risks but also coming up with solutions to make the workplace safer. Given that the project is traversing some of the most complex terrain in the world, Gibb says the team focused its attention on key risks at the right time, kicking off the year with three of the six — driving, steep‑slope work, and mobile equipment and people.

“We have a 670-kilometre worksite, so a significant amount of driving is required to get employees safely from Point A to B. More than 90 percent of the driving is on remote, challenging forestry roads, in all weather conditions, at all hours of the day, and at the end of a shift when we are tired and want to get home,” says Gibb. “This phase of construction goes up and over tops of mountains, so these risks are very present.”

Driving and radio protocols

As an example, Gibb explains there are radio protocols on forestry roads that every worker needs to know and follow:

• Before getting behind the wheel, whether in a pickup truck or a heavy-duty vehicle, plan your routes, check road conditions, and make sure you are familiar with the radio protocols.
• Ensure your vehicle’s headlights and tail lights are working properly.
• Listen and communicate over the radio.
• Avoid distractions such as cellphones and unnecessary radio chatter to keep focus on the road.

Steep‑slope work

When it comes to steep slopes, Gibb notes that rocks, debris, and even equipment can roll downhill and put anyone in their path at risk. Steep‑slope plans need to outline how equipment and materials will be secured to keep people out of “the line of fire.” Before working on a steep slope:

• Familiarize yourself with the steep‑slope plans.
• Communicate potential risks, issues, or concerns with your team.
• Scan the work area before the shift starts.
• Make sure all materials and equipment are secured before works begins.

Mobile equipment and people

Mobile equipment includes the hundreds of side booms, excavators, bulldozers, trucks, and large transports moving around the worksites every day. Gibb points out that workers can be seriously injured or killed if equipment moves unexpectedly, or if they get caught in pinch points or blind spots. When working around mobile equipment:

• Complete all maintenance tasks before beginning work.
• Perform daily checks to ensure camera and radar systems are working correctly.
• Use tools to communicate between equipment operators and workers on the ground.

Starting a culture change

Daily walkthroughs and checks for safety concerns are part of every protocol for the critical six.

“When you walk on the worksite, we want you to think about stuff that can kill you. By understanding what’s STCKY, we can work to eliminate the most dangerous activities and behaviours that can lead to critical incidents,” he adds.

Gibb explains that through the STCKY lens, “we define safety as the presence of safeguards, rather than the absence of incidents. This thinking allows us to fail safely and without injury.”

Since the STCKY message was introduced, Gibb says he has seen a culture change where employees at every level are comfortable talking about human error or failing at a task. With proper safeguards in place, they can “fail safely.” The rate of serious incidents has dropped by half and the feedback from employees and contractors has been rewarding.

“What I hear is ‘Oh, that’s so simple and easy to think about every day.’ We have prime contractors who all have amazing safety programs already and who now use STCKY as part of their safety program. It’s super satisfying,” he says. STCKY doesn’t replace contractors’ programs, but supports them.

The STCKY message is delivered every morning through toolbox meetings. It’s further reinforced through posters, stickers, videos, and something called a bed-drop, which is a newsletter delivered to every worker’s room on the site.

Fort St. John-based WorkSafeBC manager of Prevention Field Services Budd Phillips says the statistics show the program is a success.

“When you consider the number of workers and the person hours and the millions of kilometres driven, the type and nature of injuries has been extremely low. It’s very impressive,” he says.

Also impressive is what the STCKY messaging has done to encourage and build worker engagement, adds Phillips. When workers engage with each other about staying safe on the jobsite and talk to their supervisors and managers, that’s a huge win for workplace safety. He’s encouraged to see that when asked for their input on safety and solutions to the “critical six” risks, employees take ownership and are eager to participate.

“From our perspective, this level of engagement is what we want to see in the field and at the management level. We strongly encourage all employers to talk to their employees like this,” he says.

Phillips notes the STCKY process has caught the attention of other employers interested in adopting or adapting it as part of their own safety programs, including a northern B.C. municipality and a large industrial site. TC Energy is more than willing to share their successful program with firms like Nadleh-Macro and anyone else who may benefit from STCKY.

“We found something that works, that truly resonates, and our employees have really bought into the program. We are happy to share that with any other employers who are interested,” adds Gibb.

For more information

Visit Enhancing health & safety culture & performance on worksafebc.com.

This information originally appeared in the Fall 2023 issue of WorkSafe Magazine. To read more or to subscribe, visit WorkSafe Magazine.