Safety Leadership at Scotford Honoured

May 21, 2009

The safety performance on the Scotford Upgrader Expansion 1 project has earned plaudits from the Construction Owners Association of Alberta (COAA).

COAA awarded Bechtel Canada the 2009 Safety Leadership Award at its annual conference in Edmonton on Wednesday, May 20. Bantrel and Bantrel Constructors Co. are key members of the Bechtel Canada team in Fort Saskatchewan, Alta.

COAA represents the owners of businesses managing industrial projects in Alberta such as CNRL, Shell, Total, Imperial Oil, etc. Its mission is to enhance the leadership of its owner members in order to ensure safe, effective and productive worksites.

COAA spokesman Lloyd Dick says Bechtel's entry stood out among those vying for this year's honours.

"There were a number of things we liked about the Bechtel submission, but what really caught our attention were the safety statistics and measurements recorded on the Scotford project," Lloyd says. "They were definitely impressive and a testament to the safety leadership on this project."

Since April, there have been many health, safety and environmental achievements at Scotford. They include:

  • Exposure Hours: In excess of 18 million hours
  • Total Recordable Incident Frequency (TRIF)/per 200,000: 0.43
  • Lost-time Incident Frequency (LTIF)/per 200,000: 0.02
  • People-based Safety Observations: 180,000 behavioural observations

In addition, Bechtel was recognized for spearheading several innovative safety campaigns:

  • Stop the Drop: A campaign focused on eliminating objects from falling at heights.
  • Line of Fire: An training program aimed at reducing injuries related to 'line of fire' behaviours.
  • Hand Injury Prevention: A campaign that reduced the number of hand injuries on the project.
  • People Based Safety: More than 100 observers are tasked with completing field observations of their co-workers for at risk and at safe behaviours.

According to Bantrel's Health, Safety and Environmental Manager Jeff Erb: “Safety is always a top priority for Bantrel. We are proud to be part of the award-winning team at the Scotford Upgrader Expansion 1 project."