Hay River,
NT (July 19, 1999)
Power
Corporation employees are congratulating each other on reaching an impressive
first-time safety record: six consecutive months with no lost-time accidents.
“We're half-way
to achieving our stated goal of zero lost-time accidents in 1999, and
we're all very proud,” say Corporation Safety managers Brian Willows
(NWT regions) and Ernest Murdock (Nunavut region). “Each new day
without a lost-time mishap convinces us that we have a new culture in
this company with regard to safety.”
The January-to-June
record exceeds 400,000 hours and is the longest in the Corporation's
11-year history. It shows the Corporation's emphasis on safety is paying
off: for the whole of 1994, workers experienced 18 lost-time incidents,
but the trend has dropped dramatically to only four in 1997, and five
in 1998.
A lost-time accident
is a job-related injury serious enough to prevent an employee from reporting
for work, even when substitute work could be performed.
The Safety Managers
credit the improvement to accelerated training programs for virtually
all of the Corporation's 295 employees. Plant and system operator training
programs have been designed to suit the utility's specialized needs,
emphasizing safety, environmental protection and plant efficiencies
The Corporation
also recently staged its third annual Pole Top Rescue competition, and
skill refresher course, for linemen from across Nunavut and NWT. And
in the past two years, many employees made contributions to rewriting
the Corporation's Safety Rule Book and Work Protection Code.
Simon Merkosak,
acting chairman of the Board of Directors, says the safety philosophy
of "One job, and one day at a time", is working.
“A safer workplace
means everyone is doing their share to protect themselves, their fellow
workers and their families from accidents. We're very pleased and encouraged
with this,” said Mr. Merkosak.
