Safety

SAFE Company Certification

The SAFE Companies program of the B.C. Forest Safety Council is intended to ensure that forest industry companies take specific and concrete measures to make safety an over-riding priority. In order to achieve SAFE Company certification, organizations must undergo a comprehensive external audit of their health and safety programs and processes every three years, supplemented by annual internal audits.

SAFE Company audits measure performance in the following areas:

  1. Management Leadership
  2. Hazard & Risk Assessment
  3. Standards, Procedures & Work Instructions
  4. Training, Education & Certification
  5. Health & Safety Communications Systems
  6. Incident Reporting and Investigation Systems
  7. Contractor Management
  8. Prime Contractor Selection & Management

Companies must pass the overall audit with a score of at least 80%, with a minimum score of 51% in each area.

The Timberland Operations and Corporate Office of TimberWest achieved SAFE Company certification on March 1, 2007 with an overall audit score of 93.9%. This was followed by annual maintenance audit scores of 97.4% in 2008, and 95.7% in 2009. The company recently completed its re-certification audit for 2010 and achieved a score of 95.7%.

Focus On Safety

TimberWest senior management and staff at all levels are committed to a Health and Safety program that provides all the necessary elements to minimize risk, to train, educate, and communicate, to meet or exceed regulatory and industry requirements, and  to encourage active participation by all towards a goal of continuous improvement.  Our objective is a program that will lead to people getting home safely at the end of each work day.

Health & Safety Policy Statement

TimberWest is committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace for all of its on-site stakeholders, be they employees, contractors, suppliers, customers or other visitors to our operations.

This is the highest priority at TimberWest and to this end, management and supervisory personnel are committed to lead and demonstrate by example.  Health and safety will be placed above all other workplace motivations.

The Company will achieve its health and safety goals by:

  • Honoring our commitment to the Health & Safety Accord of the B.C. Forest Industry
  • Providing guidelines and policy in the form of safety principles and programs;
  • Ensuring that all personnel have the necessary knowledge to operate in a safe manner at all times;
  • Promote safe work practices and procedures;
  • Providing organization, training, motivation, recognition and guidance;
  • Ensuring compliance as identified by all regulatory bodies in the field of health and safety;
  • Pursuing excellence in health and safety performance, including best practices, ongoing hazard assessment, and regular performance audits.

TimberWest supports the proactive participation by all on-site stakeholders in both the development and application of the health and safety program.  A successful program requires that, as a condition of employment:

  • Workers aggressively pursue and apply the knowledge necessary to safely carry out their work responsibilities;
  • Workers contribute to the development and ongoing effectiveness of the health and safety program;
  • Workers offer constructive input towards improvements in the health and safety program.

Health and safety at TimberWest is a shared responsibility and TimberWest is committed to providing the leadership necessary to achieving a truly excellent program.

A Truly Excellent Program

  • TimberWest strongly supports and is an active participate in the BC Forest Safety Council’s SAFE Certification program, and has been SAFE Certified since the inception of the program in 2007.
  • In coastal British Columbia, TimberWest is recognized as an industry leader in working with contractors to achieve SAFE Certification and requires that all timberlands contractors working on its lands become SAFE Certified. 
  • TimberWest’s Contractor Health & Safety Policy document forms an integral part of all contracted activities on company lands.  It is a robust program which identifies roles and responsibilities as well as monitoring and compliance requirements which are strictly enforced by company contract management personnel.
  • All TimberWest sites have active Health & Safety Committees to oversee all aspects of the companies Health & Safety Program.

Truly Excellent Results

  • TimberWest’s and associated production contractor Medical Incident Rating – the number of reportable incidents per 100,000 m3 of production – has declined from 2.17 to 0.53 in the past four years.
  • TimberWest’s WorkSafeBC Assessment Rate has improved from an 11% demerit rating to a 48% merit rating in the past four years.