Like all construction sites, we have a lot of complicated machinery buzzing around being operated by trained professionals. Every operator has been certified for that equipment before being hired onto our site.
But, as we do for most safety issues, we’ve gone the extra mile by ensuring that every operator is fully trained for their equipment as it applies to our specific worksite. We’ve done this by implementing our own equipment certification program.
Our project manager Daniel Greenhalgh feels this extra certification is an essential part of ENM’s approach to safety. “Setting up our own training program wasn’t easy. We bought all the training materials for every piece of equipment – the fork lift, the genie lift, the scissor lift, all of them. We designed our own program and tailored it to address all the issues the operators would face on our site. We do Saturday courses and train three or more operators at a time.”
Daniel says this kind of site-specific equipment training is normally only seen at really large construction companies. “I’ve never seen an equipment certification program for an organization of our size. But I hope we can be part of setting a safety standard for all construction companies of our size to follow.”
Our safety coordinator, Brodie Parsons, oversees the program and feels it gives workers an extra layer of armor for operating their equipment safely.
“At ENM, we provide the chance for all of our workers to get tickets on all of the different types of machinery we have on site - like a telehandler, counter balance fork lift, EWP (elevated work platform or manlift) and elevator hoist, to name a few. Along side the machinery, we send workers to trainings on fall protection, first aid, WHIMIS, and general construction safety courses when needed. It’s essential that all workers using machinery or possible life saving devices know everything about that piece of equipment before they use it to ensure they and everyone around them are safe. Once one of our workers are trained, they can also help train and give guidance to other trades on site, making the work environment much safer.”
Daniel says this extra training helps ENM’s site managers interface with the Worker’s Compensation Board in a much more efficient fashion. “We get site visits from WCB workers 8 or 10 times a month. They ask about all of our workers, and we’re able to assure them that every worker and equipment operator has met rigorous training and safety standards. They respond to every incident, but thankfully, we haven’t any major injuries on our site.”
