Tracks and Treads - Finning Canada

Safety First
Story by rick overwater
illustration by CHRIS PYLE
A safe construction site starts with a hazard and risk
aSSESSment, and lies in knowing the difference between the two
Don’t Hazard
a Guess
Zac Brown recalls his early years as a safety
adviser, working for an employer with a
particularly densely populated work zone.
Dump trucks continually moved around
several excavations where a second crew was
laying pipe below. Overhead, a crane lifted
and lowered the pipe, with both its boom
and counterweight swinging into other work
zones. Amidst all the machinery, men were
on foot everywhere, sometimes out of machinery
operators’ sightlines. Brown knew
that the company needed to increase its emphasis
on safety.
“Often in construction zones, you’re
working pretty close to each other,” says
Brown, “so we did a hazard assessment to
manage the risk at the interface between the
guys hauling waste rock away and the guys
installing pipe.” Besides installing fencing to
segregate work areas, the company took an
extra step and installed a worker, with a high
visibility vest and a radio, to co-ordinate onsite
movement. “That happened because
we sat down and did a hazard assessment,”
says Brown, now employed as the director
of Health, Safety and Environmental
Protection for Ledcor CMI, a specialist in oilpatch
construction.
Ted Lane is an occupational health and
safety officer for Alberta Workplace Health
and Safety. He points out a compelling reason
for carrying out a hazard assessment at
the start of every job.
“It’s a legal requirement for a start,” he
states matter-of-factly. “The Occupational
Health and Safety code requires an employer
to assess a work site and identify existing and
potential hazards. They have to prepare a
report, date it and ensure it’s done at reasonable,
practical intervals.” He adds that small
companies are often unaware that this law is
equally applicable to two carpenters building
a deck on a vacation property as it is to
100 workers erecting an office tower.
There are two parts to a hazard assessment.
First, identify the hazard. Second,
identify the risk, and make sure you understand
the difference between the two.
A hazard is anything that has the potential
to cause harm. “It’s a physical thing,”
Lane explains. “Could it possibly fall on my
head Could it run me over Could it electrocute
me” Risk, on the other hand, is the
actual likelihood of being hurt and it involves
numerous components. “How badly
is it going to hurt me” he asks. “Is it going to
kill me or give me a paper cut How often is it
likely to kill – several times per shift or twice
a year What’s the likelihood Is it a certainty
or very unlikely”
Answering such questions, Lane continues,
allows you to assess the combination
and create a system for implementing controls.
This could be as complex as providing
specialized training and protective equipment
to something as simple as making sure
a machine is in good working order, ultimately
yielding a safer workplace.
He cites the example of a factory in which
a large machine with whirling blades has the
potential to kill workers. Meanwhile, outside
there is a chunk missing from the front
step of the building entrance. The blades of
the machine, inside a safety enclosure,
are operated from the
outside and the chance of them
contacting workers is minimal.
“It may scare you to death but,
taking the risk into account, you
don’t really have to do anything
about it,” he says. “But the chunk
out of your front step may have
500 people passing over it every
day and is much more likely to
hurt somebody than your nasty
machine is.”
Ha zard assessments remain
a key part of Brown’s role,
and a Ledcor jobsite generally
sees more than one kind.
Initially, there’s a projectlevel
hazard assessment that
looks at elements affecting the
site, such as weather, overhead power lines
or underground services. On the ground,
generic assessments apply to any jobsite.
“Fixing a pothole is fixing a pothole,” Brown
says. Safety officers carry out assessments at
the start of every task and whenever the
project introduces a new element, such as
a change in the machinery or an influx of
new workers.
Regardless of the factors affecting it,
Brown says, one thing is for sure: Day-today
safety starts with a hazard assessment.
“There’s a lot of value in just telling people
‘Hey, wait! Let’s take five and think about
what we’re going to do and plan how to do
it safely.’”
www.finning.ca Fall 2008 • tracks & treads 33