Flint Named Alberta's Best Workplace in 2011 for Health and Safety
May 2011: The economic recovery is alive and well in Alberta, if the fourth annual edition of Alberta’s Best Workplaces is any indication. More importantly, it shows that employees are sharing in the spoils of this success. Employees at Flint are not only known for being Tough and TrustedTM, but for also being the best for health and safety in the workplace.
On April 26, 2011, Alberta Venture’s panel of five judges announced that Flint was the winner in the category forBest Workplace for Health and Safety. Applicants were evaluated based on policies, general human resources practices, category-specific criteria and overall excellence. This award gives credit to Flint and our 8,800 employees that give life to our health and safety practices, and our core values on a daily basis.
Terry Densmore, VP of Environment, Health and Safety accepted the award on behalf of Flint and commented that “both our employees and our clients regard safety as a priority to them in each step of the work they do together.” Our safety target is aZero Injury workforce and this zero journey starts with each employee taking care of themselves first, and then the person working beside them. This solid commitment to work safe everyday is reflected in the Company’s overall December year-end total recordable injury frequency, which was five times better than comparative industry levels. This sets us apart from our peers. Flint believes that a strong safety culture reinforces the corporate value that our people are our most important asset.
Each year in January, Flint’s executive leadership team conducts a company-wide ‘Fresh Start’ safety campaign which is one message delivered to all of our employees and subcontractors. Topics such as preventable vehicle collisions, employee-lead safety moments on a daily basis, work-safe habits, our green hand employee program, behavior-based observation (BBO) cards and audit/attest practices, are embedded into this annual employee presentation. This message is repeated again in our annual fall Corporate Tailgate presentations, along with our corporate goals and vision. This year, Flint aims to increase the number of safety conversations and stepped up the BBO count to 2 BBO cards completed each week per employee. Our BBO cards serve the purpose for both positive reinforcement for doing work or tasks safely, as well as corrective discussions when an employee sees a coworker doing something in an unsafe manner.
Safety and the health of our employees go hand-in-hand. Our employees work hard but they also find time to volunteer their time in a healthy, competitive fitness challenge between teams. Our Flint offices in larger cities also participate in local corporate challenge events each year. Daily stretch times for field employees reduce stress and strains, and encourage healthy work habits. Flint’s company-wide vacation buy-back program supports work-life balance for our employees, giving them extra time to fit in their personal goals and commitments. Bob Henderson, VP of Human Resources and Communications says that “taking care of ourselves and encouraging our team members around us to be their best, builds a strong workforce within Flint. We also have a lot of fun working together.
Flint believes that workplace wellness has a lot to do with creating an environment where employees can balance their work and home responsibilities. Flexibility with respect to work schedules is a high priority for many of our employees. As a result, many of our groups have implemented condensed schedules that allow employees to take every second Friday off, or accumulate time off for additional vacation.
Human Resources also actively promotes the employee and family assistance program by forwarding monthly ‘balancing act’ articles that talk about solutions around real work-life hurdles our people might be facing. Flint’s health care spending account allows employees to be reimbursed for their out of pocket wellness related items. We offer a comprehensive benefits package for employees.
When you look at the industry-leading safety performance at Flint and the support at a corporate level to maintain healthy lifestyles, it’s no surprise that Alberta Venture judges gave ‘thumbs up’ to Flint.
Congratulations to all the Flint employees as you proudly share this award together.
W.J. (Bill) Lingard
President and CEO
Flint Energy Services Ltd.