Safety Matters

Halifax Harbour Bridges (HHB) hired Peter Hollett as its first safety manager in 2010. While safety has always been a priority for HHB, they recognized they could achieve greater results with a coordinated safety program.

Peter Hollett, a registered safety professional with 25-years of experience, took on the challenge.nPeter is a recognized safety leader and is frequently quoted in the Canadian Occupational Safety e-newsletter. His approach to this challenge was to work as a facilitator and a champion of safety. He developed a series of new safety initiatives with the support of employees, union representatives, and members of the JOHS committee.

Under Peter’s leadership, and with the full support of HHB management, there were a number of major changes made. New safety policies and procedures were developed, the safety manual was updated, the structure and terms of reference for the JOHS committee were refined, a safety audit was performed, and a safety education program was implemented. A new Return To Work program was also developed. That summer, HHB employees were invited to a barbeque and invited to pick a safety topic of interest to discuss. As well, subject matter experts were brought in to discuss issues such as fall protection, violence in the workplace and fire extinguishers.

New programs, procedures and the development of a shared safety culture developed by Peter with the support of everyone at the HHB delivered results in the first year. Injury claims dropped from 24 in 2009 to 20 in 2010 and the number of lost earning weeks dropped from 49 weeks in 2009 to 14 weeks in 2010.