Our Health, Safety and Environment Culture Policy

Terracon is committed to promoting a positive health, safety, and environment culture. We are dedicated to protecting the health and safety of ourselves, our peers, our clients, and the general public. We recognize environmental protection as a guiding principle and a key component of our operations.

We accomplish this by complying with all governing legislation and regulations and by rigorously applying Terracon’s HSE Management System and Quality Management System. Through an open and transparent process, we evaluate and learn from our performance to continually improve our HSE performance and culture. We employ best practices to minimize risk, prevent injuries, and reduce losses.

Our Commitment

Through the deliberate application of Terracon’s HSE Management system, Terracon’s managers, supervisors, employees and sub-contractors are completely committed to and responsible for ensuring the strict adherence to following safety principles. At Terracon,

1. We report mentally and physically fit for work.
2. We learn how to work more safely by promptly reporting all incidents, near misses, hazardous conditions, and interventions. When we see something, we say something.
3. We correctly wear the appropriate personal protective equipment and we intervene when others do not.
4. We take the time required to identify hazards and implement mitigation controls through the regular use of job hazard analyses, field level risk assessments, inspections, and job observations. We exercise our right to know what hazards are present before commencing work.
5. We refuse work when we believe it can not be done safely.
6. We are intentional and alert drivers who obey speed limits, take all necessary precautions when reversing, follow all driving laws, and abide by client driving rules.
7. We commit to the adoption, implementation and use of all of Energy Safety Canada’s Life Saving Rules, as well as all client life saving rules.
8. We understand the legislative requirements involved in the transportation, personal monitoring, and use of radioactive equipment. We comply with all training requirements and components of our Radiation Safety Program.
9. We actively take steps to prevent violence, harassment, and discrimination in the workplace and we intervene when this type of behaviour is displayed by our peers, our clients, or the general public.
10. We take our right to participate in Terracon’s safety program seriously by attending pre-job meetings, safety meetings, and health and safety committee meetings.

Terracon promotes a culture where Health, Safety, and Environmental performance forms the basis for all activities that we do, both on and off the job. Through the participation of all Terracon employees, this culture is continuously evolving.

Safety is a Way of Life

At Terracon, safety is much more than a core value, it’s a way of life. From senior management to the newest member of the Terracon team, employees live and breathe a culture of safety that has truly made them leaders in their field. Terracon has worked hard to foster a culture of safety comprised of two primary elements – attitude and habits – predicated upon a solid foundation of knowledge. “The right attitude towards safety is something you develop and carry with you all the time, at home and on the job,” says Lee Nichols, Founder of Terracon. This attitude has become a state of mind at Terracon that starts with senior management and carries throughout the organization. In turn, this encourages and cultivates the right attitude, habits and behaviors of all employees.

The primary focus of HSE is to protect the health and safety of employees, subcontractors, clients and the environment in which they live and work. Terracon believes that “all accidents are preventable” and strives to achieve zero Lost Time Accidents (LTA) – Nobody Gets Hurt.

Terracon’s Quality Management System (QMS) provides the architecture necessary to shape the kind of attitude, habits and behaviors that are characteristic of a culture of safety, quality and professionalism. A strategic system of structures, processes and procedures, the QMS also sets out the essential safety protocols giving employees the tools they need – job descriptions, safe work procedures, and job hazard analyses – to keep them safe on the job.

“An effective QMS is not a static system”, says Lee Nichols, Founder of Terracon. “To continue to be the best, we must work diligently on an ongoing basis to enhance its usability, productivity, relevancy and efficiency in the best interest of all of our stakeholders”.

Each and every employee must understand that he/she is ultimately responsible for their own safety. Management takes the position, “if you can’t perform the job safely, don’t do it”. In accordance with OH&S code, Terracon employees have the obligation to refuse work if they perceive it to be unsafe. All of these measures go a long way towards building a strong safety culture and ensuring that the company achieves zero LTI.