Reporting Leading Indicators is our main tool for this. That includes near misses of course, but also, any unsafe conditions or unsafe actions that people notice. We also recognize and track positive observations which encourages our team to repeat that behaviour or decision. Initially, this started as a checkbox, but we didn't want it to be just that – we wanted the leading indicators to be meaningful and impact everybody's safety throughout the day. So now, leading indicators have become a behaviour change management tool. We use them as a tool to have conversations with the team to understand the concerns, and that's actually evolved more into everyone holding the leadership team accountable to following through with their concerns, questions, and comments around safety.

How does your branch feel about your record for no injuries?

We are proud of that, of course – we're now approaching a million hours with no injuries. But we don't like to see those numbers as targets. This is about day-to-day activities and actions and people taking their personal safety seriously. We don't have a target we're trying to achieve. We're just trying to make sure everybody goes home every day. That's the only target that really matters.
 

How does creating a safety culture affect the other aspects of the business?

It has a very positive impact on work culture. If you have a safety culture that is working, like ours, the rest of the business typically follows along. It's all about how team members interact with each other. If they're used to having those conversations and supporting each other, that goes beyond just the safety conversations. It applies whenever somebody is looking for advice about handling a particular task, even an admin item.