Our Commitment To Creating A Healthy & Safe Workplace
At Royal Containers, commitment to employee safety and promoting a safe work ethic culture is one of the keys to our success. Each year on April 28th, we observe the National Day of Mourning and remember workers who have died, were injured or became ill from their job. We commit to protecting our employees and preventing further workplace tragedies.
There have been many changes at Royal Containers in the past 14 months due to COVID-19, but one thing that has remained constant is our commitment to the health and safety of our employees. Beyond the change in protocols and provincial safety measures, we have also added new employees and had other familiar faces taking on new roles. We have embraced these changes with renewed ideas around our health and safety practices. Tenured employees or new, Royal Containers has always made the well-being of each employee our top priority.
“Royal Containers is a family-owned company. We pride ourselves on our commitment to health and safety because we look out for each other as if we were family.” – Tiffany Park
The Royal Health & Safety Committee
At Royal Containers, we have developed a Joint Health & Safety Committee (JHSC) dedicated to creating a safer work environment for all. Our JHSC is a team of volunteers from every department. Whether it be HR, sales, or shipping, we have representatives available on staff for the morning, afternoon, and midnight shift workers. All the members have current first-aid training.
The role of the Committee members is to:
- Identify potential health and safety issues to be resolved by the JHSC.
- Keep employees informed of health and safety developments in the workplace as they arise.
- Communicate safety tips and information through team leads, digital monitors, safety boards, and regularly scheduled meetings.
- Perform monthly workplace inspections.
- Make recommendations and provide corrective actions for a better work environment.
- Follow up on non-compliant observations made with an action to resolve.
- Be the conduit between the committee and their team; Address any safety concerns made by fellow employees by bringing them forward to the committee and voicing them to their department.
JHSC Creative Initiatives- How do we keep our employees safe?
A. “I Work Safe Because” is a campaign intended on emphasizing what is important to each employee to “leave work the same way they arrived”. As a result, we post pictures all in the buildings of our employees’ families, or their dream vacation they are working towards, or maybe a date representing their retirement. We all have reasons why we need to be safe at work, but in our day-to-day lives, we can lose sight of it.
B. We have a corrugated safety person, Hurtin’ (Harper), that showcases every injury or first aid incident to our employee on his/her body. Eg, if an employee cuts their right hand, our cut out will have the incident visually marked on Harper’s right hand.
With this visual reminder, we believe a picture speaks a thousand words!
“Health and safety to me is part of my job but it’s something that I’m passionate about because it doesn’t just touch the people in our plants or our office, but it touches their family members and friends that goes well beyond our company.” – Steve Robinson
Prevention
At Royal Containers, our goal is not only to inform our employees of the importance of health and safety but to highlight the importance of prevention.
Beyond measures taken internally, the government also creates safeguards for employees. One of the most common pieces of government workplace legislation is the Occupational of Health and Safety Act (HSA). The purpose of this legislation is to protect workers from health and safety hazards on the job and outlines the duties for all workplace parties and rights for workers.
According to the law, the onus of responsibility falls on the employer to adhere to the regulations of the act. Royal Containers is proudly compliant with these standards. With safety being our top priority, we have a Two-Way Communication practice when it comes to safety. The Executive Leadership team shares communications on initiatives to maintain an injury-free workplace. But the conversation can only develop when employees are provided opportunities to share their ideas on how to improve. Our Two-Way Communication approach leads to effective best practices that instill safety at every level.
“Being able to have the Ministry of Labour come through the plant and leave without having to issue any orders or even a recommendation speaks to the incredible commitment to safety from our Joint Health and Safety Committee and every employee here at Royal.” – Brent Hill
The Future
Despite our compliance and health and safety initiatives, we recognize that there is always room to improve. Our JHSC has big plans for the future, with some changes to roll out in the next few weeks.
Currently, the JHSC meets every 3 months to review reported first aid incidences, discuss where we are from the last committee meeting, check for injury trends and provide resolutions. As a new practice, the Chairman of the JHSC, Brent Hill, advocates the team should be meeting every month.
Another safety measure being implemented in the next few weeks is safety gear vending machines installed throughout our facilities. By simply entering your employee number into the machine, you will get crucial safety gear immediately. The machine will provide items such as; cut-resistant gloves/sleeves, safety glasses, and bandages to name a few.
Other areas of focus for the year ahead are safety enhancements for plant pedestrian traffic and educational mental health initiatives and support.
In our Brampton office, we are going on 158 days without a lost-time incident. We believe this speaks to the success of our current practices!
Do you know your responsibilities when it comes to health and safety? If not, you’re not alone. Please contact us for more information or if you have any questions.
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