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in over 40 countries around the world
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600 Ferguson Avenue North
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8L 4Z9
Tel: 1.905.528.7924 Fax: 1.905.528.6187
Toll Free: 1.800.668.9432 (in Canada and USA)
www.berminghammer.com
Email: bfssales@berminghammer.com
TOP TIPS FOR
SAFE SITES
A safe working environment is made up of a thousand details,
but sometimes it can be helpful to take a step back and
look at the biggest possible picture. We asked our panel of
safety experts to distill their many years of experience into
a few simple rules, and this is what they came up with.
First of all, is it possible to summarize the safety function
in just a few words? Dennis Bell of Northstar Energy
Services put it succinctly when he said: “The role of safety
is to minimize risk to eliminate loss.” Of course, he points
out, the idea of “loss” can cover a lot of territory, including
injury, lost time, damaged property and wasted money.
While employers have the responsibility to provide all the
requirements of a safe workplace, from safe equipment
and working processes to proper management, training and
oversight, it is also necessary “for contractors to identify and
understand their health and safety risks and to develop and
implement programs to manage and mitigate those risks,” said
Keller Canada’s Paul Belair. “We put together a risk registry.”
For everyone involved in the project, one of the most valuable rules
is “just to take the time required for safety,” said Ben Brockmann
of Bermingham Foundation Solutions. “Be willing to have a
daily safety meeting. Promote a culture that will stop to be sure.
While production is important, having an accident is going to
set you back so much further, and ultimately what’s at stake is
people’s lives. A little extra time is always going to be worth it.”
“Be good to each other,” said Willis La Rose of Doublestar
Drilling. “I like to call it ‘worker taking care of worker.’ It
doesn’t matter if they’re a new worker or an experienced
worker. They have a responsibility for their own safety,
but they also have a responsibility for their coworker.”
Finally (and critically), “Don’t put it off; just start today,”
said Owen Langton of Henry Foundation Drilling. “A good
plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.”
COVER FEATURE
PHOTO COURTESY OF NORTHSTAR INC.
PILING CANADA 17
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