Pile driving contractor cleans up its act -- Carolyn Stewart

Fraser River Pile and Dredge demonstrates new commitment: safety before productivity Fraser River Pile and Dredge (FRPD) is part of the WCB's heavy construction subclass, which has the highest rate of injury -- and the highest premium rates -- in the province. Given the sheer weight of the materials and equipment used in pile driving, and the unpredictability of working on the water, small mistakes can have huge consequences. Since FRPD refocused on safety a couple of years ago, company safety officer Steve Patrick has noticed more safety awareness among workers than ever before. But when accidents still happened, management wasn't sure why. Three FRPD employees were seriously injured in 1997, one while performing a task that put productivity before safety. That's when FRPD management knew it was time to radically change the way it communicated safety to workers. "We realized that we hadn't been getting the message across -- that safety comes before production. If we had been, that accident wouldn't have happened," says Patrick. "We needed to drive the point home that if it takes more time to do a job safely, that's what we expect workers to do," says Patrick. FRPD is now driving that point home as hard as it can, through training and education, toolbox talks, performance meetings, and management meetings with superintendents, project managers, and the CEO -- any possible way they can demonstrate that safety is more important than volume or dollars. But Patrick is quick to point out that deep-seated attitudes don't change overnight. "This is a very production-oriented industry, and you're not going to find a harder working or more driven bunch of guys anywhere. Over the years, they've developed a kind of 'go hard, go fast' mindset -- and now we're telling them to slow down. It's going to take time." Workers' attitudes toward personal protective equipment can also present a safety challenge. For some of FRPD's journeyed employees, personal protective equipment used to mean a simple safety belt; now it means a four-point harness, a life jacket, a high-visibility vest, safety goggles, and ear protection. As Bill Longmuir, foreman and pile drivers' union member, says, "It's easy to talk about safety in the office, but it's the workers who have to wear this stuff -- to do difficult work in terrible conditions. And like anything, if it's easy, everyone will do it; if it's hard, some won't." So providing workers with effective equipment that's easy to use, light, non-restrictive, and in compliance with safety standards is a big priority at FRPD, as is finding safer procedures and less dangerous materials and equipment. Patrick is confident FRPD will be in full compliance with the WCB's new Occupational Health and Safety Regulation by April 1999, but he also recognizes that new standards for fall protection and confined space entry will require them to be resourceful. "We don't work in a high-rise environment where you just put in a handrail," Patrick says. "We work over the water in a rough-and-tumble operation -- it's creosote, diesel hammers, thousand-pound weights, filthy environments where everything's covered in barnacles. We'll probably have to improvise, and maybe change the way we do some things. But we're prepared for that." Now that the people at FRPD have launched their own safety revolution, they hope others will follow their example. CEO Les Jourdain helped to form the Marine and Pile Driving Contractors Association in order to promote standardized safety practices within the industry, and Patrick is working with the Pile Drivers, Divers, Bridge, Dock and Wharf Builders Local Union 2404 to increase the level of safety knowledge all new apprentices bring with them to the worksite. Still, danger is an on-the-job reality in heavy construction, and overcoming it will be an ongoing struggle. FRPD has just taken a large step in the right direction, and that's the only direction they're interested in.