2015

Nova Scotia leaders in workplace safety are recognized for their positive contribution to the province’s safety culture with the annual Mainstay Awards.

The Mainstay Awards, sponsored by the Workers’ Compensation Board and the Nova Scotia Department of Labour and Advanced Education, celebrate excellence in occupational health and safety, injury prevention and return-to-work programs.

Click the category below to reveal the 2015 winner:

Safety Award of Excellence, Organization

Winner: Pratt & Whitney

Safety Excellence is underpinned by leadership and employee focus and commitment, best-in-class safety strategies, constant discipline, and continuous improvement. Safety excellence is doing everything you can to make sure you and your employees return home safe after every shift. It’s also about sharing your passion for safety, and helping others put safety first.

Pratt & Whitney’s Halifax Operations health and safety program is built on a solid foundation of collaboration, engagement, and the fundamental belief that they only do something if they can do it safely.

Thanks to a strong commitment to employee involvement, direct participation in health and safety programs and committees at Pratt & Whitney has grown from three per cent to 33 per cent. That means a full one-third of the workforce has taken on a safety role in addition to their regular duties.

Within this framework the company has established dedicated teams to focus on specific areas of safety, such as ergonomics, hazard risk assessment, industrial hygiene, and more. They’ve also implemented policies and practices that put employee safety first, such as the rule that limits individual lifting without a device to 25 pounds. All of these efforts have allowed Pratt & Whitney to achieve an incredible 8.8 million hours without a lost-time injury.

Safety Award of Excellence, Individual

Winner: Linda Corkum

Safety Excellence is underpinned by leadership and employee focus and commitment, best-in-class safety strategies, constant discipline, and continuous improvement. Safety excellence is doing everything you can to make sure you and your employees return home safe after every shift. It’s also about sharing your passion for safety, and helping others put safety first.

As Executive Director of the NSTSA, Linda Corkum develops and delivers safety programs, including safety certification, facilitates OHS programs, and works alongside industry members to improve their safety knowledge.

She works with her industry members to improve safety outcomes by continuing to communicate the message of safety anywhere she can – one-on-one, in group settings, and at community events. 

Linda spearheaded the development of the NSTSA’s annual Safety Excellence Awards, to recognize and promote safety champions within the trucking industry. 

She represents the trucking industry as a member of the Atlantic Province’s Trucking Association’s Safety Council, and works in partnership with many groups, to achieve the goal of a strong and vibrant safety culture in trucking.

Health and Safety Educator

Winner:Conrad Lelièvre

This award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated an exceptional commitment to the promotion and advancement of workplace health and safety.

Over the past five years serving as Safety Coordinator for Engineers Nova Scotia, Conrad Lelièvre has made a big difference. That’s because Conrad is a safety leader, an educator, and he has taught health and safety education at both the grade school and university levels.

In his role with Engineers Nova Scotia, Conrad ensures that engineers across the province are up-to-date on current safety codes and practices. He has put up countless volunteer hours offering seminars for the engineering community, and through his work on government advisory committees, he strengthened Nova Scotia’s health and safety regulations. Over the past several years he has contributed to regulatory updates for the Motor Vehicle Act, Fall Protection and Scaffolding Regulations, and Boiler and Pressure Vessel Regulations.

Conrad’s efforts have been recognized both locally and nationally, and in September 2014 he was recognized with the F.H. Sexton Gold medal Award, for his service to the engineering profession. The F.H. Sexton Award is given only to those who have demonstrated exceptional achievements.

According to Engineers Nova Scotia, whose CEO nominated him for Mainstay, Conrad embodies Engineers Nova Scotia’s commitment to public safety. And we couldn’t agree more.

Special Award for Small Business

Winner: NS Health Research Foundation

This award recognizes a small business that demonstrates an exemplary health and safety program, and has a proven injury prevention and/or return to work track record.

The Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation is committed to offering a clean, safe, and well-organized workplace where employees are empowered to report and participate in addressing safety concerns.

Last year the NSHRF introduced an extensive staff health and safety survey, and an OHS evaluation framework to support continuous improvement. Although not required to do so because of its small size, the NSHRF has an active and ambitious health and safety committee that engages staff and seeks their ongoing involvement in health and safety activities.

The success of these efforts is evident in the organization’s excellent safety record.

Individual Safety Champion

Winner: Shawn Taylor, Halifax Water

This award recognizes an individual whose contribution has made an exceptional difference to health and safety in the workplace.
Shawn Taylor is a Laboratory Analyst with Halifax Water, but his knowledge of science and chemistry, and passion for health and safety has pushed him to become an internal occupational health and safety expert.

He is always there, offering advice beyond his immediate department, and helping to introduce new safety tools and processes that are helping to build a stronger safety culture organization wide.

Thanks to Shawn’s work with the Halifax Water’s JOHS committee, the utility’s workforce has become more safety conscious and is putting safety first.

Employer Safety Champions

Winner: Hussman Canada

This award recognizes an employer who has demonstrated an exemplary health and safety program and proven injury prevention track record in their workplace.

At Hussmann, they believe that safety must come first in all things. Employees at Hussmann are empowered to be safety champions, and to only do something if they can do it safely.

Whether it’s repairing rooftop refrigeration systems, working in confined spaces, conducting a safety audit, or providing safety presentations to students at the Nova Scotia Community College, at Hussmann, safety is simply how they do business.

While the focus is on preventing workplace injury, the company has a strong and effective return-to-work program to support employees in making a safe and timely return to the workplace should an injury occur.

Winner: The Shaw Group

This award recognizes an employer who has demonstrated an exemplary health and safety program and proven injury prevention track record in their workplace.

The Shaw Group does just that. In their application for a Mainstay Award, they stated “We are a close family, and we don’t want to see any of our friends hurt, either on or off the job.”

It’s with that focus the company strives to keep safety top of mind every day, and on every shift, among its own employees, and among the subcontractors it regularly works with.

With a strong safety program and well-monitored safety procedures in place, the Shaw Group carefully considers and applies best practices to keep its people safe and the company strong.

Employer Return-to-Work Champions

Winner: Cumberland Health

This award recognizes an organization that demonstrates leadership and dedication in the implementation of an effective return-to-work program.

By developing a strong and well-supported return-to-work program, Cumberland Health has made great strides in reducing the duration of lost-time injuries.

The program is supported at all levels of the organization, thanks to an approach that includes open, honest, and timely communication with everyone involved in the RTW process.

Cumberland Health credits much of its success to a collaborative approach and the focus that’s been placed on building positive relationships that support employees as they return to the workplace.

Winner: Canada Post

This award recognizes an organization that demonstrates leadership and dedication in the implementation of an effective return-to-work program.

Working with employees, supervisors, the union, health care providers, and the WCB, Canada Post has established a return-to-work program that has achieved great results.

The company recognized, as it developed stronger prevention approaches, that there was also a need to engage team members and specialists in a collaborative approach that would help get employees back to work safer and sooner.

Canada Post’s Stay at Work/Return to Work program has resulted in an impressive 66 per cent reduction in time-loss claim costs over the past three years.

Safety Transformation Award

Winner: Peter Kohler Windows and Entrance Systems

This award recognizes an employer that has dramatically improved safety performance and created an exceptional health, safety and return-to-work program.

Peter Kohler Windows and Entrance Systems have been steadily improving their health and safety practices and procedures over the past several years.

In a recent effort to take their program to the next level, Kohler embraced the Safety Engagement Initiative, putting health and safety front and centre, and built the foundation for better health and safety performance at all levels of the company.

Thanks to these efforts, Kohler has drastically reduced lost-time injuries and return-to-work durations, which is in turn having a positive impact on employees, the company, and the entire industry group.