Whether writing about roofers last October was a coincidence or a foreboding that something roofing-related was about to happen, I will never know.

On November 2^nd, the training facility and home to all of Mentor’s safety training equipment came under fire, literally. I am happy to say that there were no injuries or worse; however, I want to outline the impact this event had to all parties involved.

Of course it is important to get to the root cause of this fire. On that day, roofers were replacing a flat-roof top using torches to heat the materials needed to create the vapour barrier. From videos I have watched, flat-roof installation is a labour-intensive process with many inherent hazards. How ever it happened, the root cause and blame needed to be determined as the facility owners and insurance companies had to reach an agreement as to who was responsible. There are so many “could have beens” that must be considered.

From Mentor’s health and safety standpoint, the following questions arose:

1. Did the roofing company have a safety plan and procedures for the work to be done?
2. Were the roofers trained on correct roofing procedures, the correct use of equipment, personal protective equipment (PPE) and materials?
3. When the fire was detected, what safety protocol was in place for the roofers to follow?
4. Who was responsible for calling for help?
5. Was there a meeting place for the roofers to congregate once they descended from the roof to account for the presence of all workers?

When firefighters arrived, they were able to get the fire under control, but not before significant smoke and material damage had occurred. Here are some of the things the firefighters had to consider before entering the building:

1. Was everyone on-site accounted for?
2. What risks were present in the event that the fire couldn’t be contained and spread to neighbouring industrial units? (As it happened, an adjacent unit stored chemicals, a major and potentially hazardous situation.)
3. Did all the industrial units have their safety binders with their safety data sheets readily available?
4. Who was the spokesperson for: the roofing company, the occupants of the industrial units, anyone else with knowledge of the facility and businesses involved?

After the fire was extinguished, there was much to do. While I can’t speak to the other units involved, Mentor’s post fire recovery program has been an ongoing process.

1. The premises required inspection for structural damage and other safety concerns.
2. The various pieces of training equipment needed to be inspected for integrity and safety, e.g. the fork lift, scissor lift, personal protective equipment such as harnesses, lanyards and lifelines and the trailer used for confined space extraction training.
3. Equipment that was undamaged still needed deep cleaning to make it serviceable.
4. An alternate training facility needed to be found until the regular space is once again usable.

Now, ten months later, we are hopeful to be able to occupy the restored space by early October.

This is a very basic summary of the actual and very alarming event that happened to our safety training company. Fortunately we can look upon it as a personal learning experience to share with all our clients. Nothing speaks louder than having lived it. If we can help others with our story, then perhaps it was worthwhile.

In the grand scheme of things and in deep gratitude, Mentor considers itself fortunate that this was an inconvenient but non-disastrous event.  

Watch for next month’s Blog published in the second week of October

Sincerely,

Carola Mittag

Consultant and Editor for Mentor Safety Consultants Inc.

The post MENTOR SAFETY UNDER FIRE appeared first on Mentor Safety Consultants - A Safety Co Partner.

Barry had a wonderful sense of humour. What I remember him most for is his meticulous attention to detail and protocol as exhibited in this excerpt from the tribute I will pay him.

… he was a man of precision, care and exactness. Imagine this scene: in the middle of a grass field, with not a single person or other aircraft in sight on the ground or in the air, Barry, having completed the exterior aircraft check and pre-flight checklist, is now sitting in the pilot’s seat with me beside him when he opens the window and calls out in his loudest voice “clear the aircraft”. I suppose to the pilots in the room this may not seem funny, but to a non-aviation individual, this was comical. CLEAR THE AIRCRAFT!

Barry was the type of pilot who could have landed the airplane on the Hudson River (Miracle on the Hudson – gliding the plane to ditch in the Hudson River off Midtown Manhattan in 2009). Barry was the type of pilot I would have entrusted my life to.

This is the kind of trust and confidence that workers should expect from their employers and supervisors. They are the ‘pilots’ of a business with the responsibility to guide their workers to a ‘safe landing’. This responsibility must never simply be given to an individual because of seniority; this responsibility is a learned position that brings with it accountability, obligation, knowledge and duty. The Occupational Health and Safety Act has specific requirements and defines a supervisor as “a person who has charge of a workplace or authority over a worker”. With the high expectations and legal responsibilities that come with the supervisory position, supervisors must be equipped to carry out their roles to meet Ministry of labour guidelines competently. OHSA S. 27 (1)(2)

One of the first things a Ministry inspector will ask for when conducting a surprise inspection is documentation that a Supervisor has received training to competently carry out their duties. Do they understand the role of the Internal Responsibility System (IRS); do they know how to navigate the Green Book (OHSA and regulations); do they adhere to and enforce the company’s health and safety policies and procedures; do they know how to identify and manage hazards; are they able to conduct an accident investigation and, very importantly, do they have the skills to communicate with employees to keep them safe?

Becoming a competent supervisor does not just happen, it is a learned skill and position that carries with it legal responsibilities that, if not met, can lead to fines from the Ministry, especially in the case of an incident or accident where training cannot be proven with proper training records.

May all workers have a Barry in their lives whom they can trust to keep them safe from harm in the workplace.

Watch for next month’s Blog published in the second week of July

Sincerely,

Carola Mittag

Consultant and Editor for Mentor Safety Consultants Inc.

The post CLEAR THE AIRCRAFT! appeared first on Mentor Safety Consultants - A Safety Co Partner.

Having gone to university, held a professional job for many years and am now happily retired, I still have to do my regular grocery shopping. I shop at a grocery store that has its buggies chained together. To release one of these shopping carts it is necessary to insert a quarter into a slot on the buggy; then, when your shopping is done, you can retrieve your quarter by retuning the buggy to the chained carts. I find it amazing that, no matter the weather, rain, sleet, hail or snow, people conscientiously return their cart to get back their twenty-five cents. Very, very rarely will you see an abandoned cart in the grocery store’s parking lot.

Today, even though a quarter has little buying power, people go to great lengths to get back their coin. I wonder if they ever think back to the times that they just walked by a penny, nickel or dime.

What has all this got to do with health and safety? I thought about a saying that is as old as the hills “The devil is in the details.” Those who return their carts to retrieve their quarters are paying attention to a little, seemingly, inconsequential detail; after all it’s only twenty-five cents.

“It will only take a second”; I’ve always done it this way”; Only this once”; It won’t happen to me”; What can go wrong?”; “But they did it like that”; “It’s only …….”.

How many times have we heard someone say any of these things or thought and said them ourselves? Whether it is workers following written safety procedures, or supervisors conducting site inspections, or JHSC members conducting an accident investigation, the devil is in the details! It sounds like an ominous warning, doesn’t it? But in fact, it is an expression used to point out that one should pay attention to all they do. Even the grandest project depends on the success of the smallest components. It may be the tiniest detail that, if not paid close attention to, could possibly ruin all your efforts not to mention cause injury, illness or even death. It is important to identify the details to avoid tragic consequences.

Safety audits are used to identify weaknesses in safety programs and processes in order to identify corrective actions that must be taken. Safety audits also identify whether or not a company is in compliance with the appropriate safety regulations. MENTOR’s safety audit is a structured process that is used to collect information relating to your company’s efficiency, effectiveness, and reliability. This type of inspection is more thorough than technical inspections or spot-check inspections, as it also involves reviewing your company’s safety documentation in order to determine how the company can improve its total health and safety management system.

People choose their actions, some in great detail and some lackadaisically. The consequences of those choices can mean the difference between a happy healthy future or one with lasting negative implications. Paying attention to details is never time wasted!

Watch for next month’s Blog published in the second week of June.

Sincerely,

Carola Mittag

Consultant and Editor for Mentor Safety Consultants Inc.

The post THE TWENTY-FIVE CENT DRIVER appeared first on Mentor Safety Consultants - A Safety Co Partner.