Rescue Team Members in Real-Life Skills Test – Three members of Syncrude’s Mine Rescue Team—Kevin Knowles, Duane Wolbeck and Dean Stoyles—put their hearts and training into preventing a tragic end to a vehicle collision they were involved in on their way to Syncrude’s Mildred Lake site. The bus they were riding in had collided with an out-of-control car carrying two occupants, both of whom were injured. Thanks to their extensive safety training—120 hours annually—and the help of their fellow passengers, the three men secured the scene and rendered assistance until paramedics arrived.

Safety Without Boundaries – Toward sustained excellence in safety performance, the Syncrude Corporate Loss Management group continues to draw on the experiences and expertise of others through its participation in a wide variety of external groups. These groups provide a forum for dialogue, information exchange and the sharing of best practices. These include the Oil Sands Safety Association and a range of other safety committees and key industry associations related to oil sands, engineering, process operations and construction.

Oil Sands Safety Ass ociation – The Oil Sands Safety Association, which works to establish common training standards and codes of practice for oil sands sites, and also ensure consistent delivery of training to those standards to both new and existing workers, commenced work in 2006 to develop several new standards. They include: regional code of practice and training standard for Safe Work Permits; regional code of practice for Safe Driving in the Mine; training standard for Overhead Cranes; and training standard for Fundamentals of Rigging and Hand Signals. The Association was founded by Syncrude and others to support oil sands industry growth by enhancing local safety training resources and promoting worker mobility. Syncrude continues to serve on its working committees and Board of Directors.

Safety Symposium – In January, Syncrude held another of its highly regarded safety symposiums. The event brought together more than 550 leaders from Syncrude, its contractors and the building trades to learn about leadership and its role in sustaining the safety culture at Syncrude during times of high worker turnover. The participants agreed that future areas of focus will include leadership visibility in the field, use of the Field Level Risk Assessment tool, and instilling a personal commitment to safety among workers.

Among other learning sessions, the event featured the story of a former power lineman who sustained three lost limbs and nearly died in a workplace incident in 1989. He has only recently been able to talk openly about the ordeal, which saw 14,000 volts of power surge through his body. His message was the importance of personal accountability and how workers need to be accountable to themselves and their families. He made the effort hoping that his experiences and the lessons he’s learned will help others take safety seriously and prevent injuries or death at work and at home.

Award for Health and Wellness Initiatives – In 2006, Syncrude received the Premier’s Award for Healthy Workplaces. The award recognizes Syncrude’s overall commitment to health and wellness both on and off the job. Syncrude’s Fatigue Buster’s Program was cited as an example of our best practices. It teaches employees about their exposure to health and safety risks due to fatigue, provides them with job-specific techniques to offset tiredness, and also provides information on healthy lifestyle choices.

Combined Effort on Health Care – Syncrude’s Chief Medical Officer has assumed responsibilities as chair of a new oil sands industry committee that will work in cooperation with the regional health authority to improve health care delivery. The group will identify actions that industry can take on a range of issues to positively influence the ability of the health authority to meet community needs.

Crane Incident Lessons – Syncrude has implemented new operating and maintenance procedures for cranes in the aftermath and forensic investigation of an incident in February in which a 500-tonne capacity mobile crane overturned while stationed at the Mildred Lake upgrader site. One worker sustained a lost-time injury and some buildings were damaged as a result of the incident.