On July 6, 2010, in Sydney, Rob Bennett, NS Power President and CEO, and Mike MacDonald, Business Manager of Local 1928 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, signed the CEO Health and Safety Leadership Charter. This marks the first joint company/union signing in the history of the Charter, which is an initiative of the Conference Board of Canada.

The CEO Health and Safety Leadership Charter is an initiative that was officially launched on April 4, 2005 at the Industrial Accident Prevention Association Health and Safety Canada 2005 Conference. It is administered by the Conference Board of Canada with the goal to support continuous improvement of healthy and safe workplaces. The Charter has received internationally accepted and been signed by more than 250 organizations. Chief Executive Officers in 8 provinces across the country have already joined the Charter and the interest continues to grow. Members of this rapidly growing coalition have committed to working together to improve Health and Safety performance through sharing, mentoring and coaching. The coalition is expanding to include large and small organizations from all regions and sectors across Canada.

This charter is intended to support the continuous improvement of healthy and safe workplaces. It is founded on the principle that the effective management of health, safety and wellness is essential to the operation of a successful business. Participation in this charter is a visible commitment from business leader to actively participate within a learning community that provides and receives best practices for the enhancement of employee physical, social and mental well being. The benefits will be realized as this learning is integrated and applied into organizational business strategies, systems, and processes.

IBEW Local 1928 & Nova Scotia Power Inc. became involved during discussions with the regulator as our relationship was being used as an example to promote health & safety culture in Nova Scotia. The CEO charter was missing union involvement, something that progressive safety culture has to have, so we decided that both the President and CEO of NSPI and The Business Manager of IBEW Local 1928 would commit to the charter where nothing is more important than the health, safety and well being of employees / our members, contractors, visitors and the surrounding community.

“I am proud to sign this Charter with our partners at the IBEW” said Rob Bennett, CEO Nova Scotia Power, “This joint signing symbolizes the fact that our safety performance is the result of working together with our union partners to create a culture where safety is a paramount across the entire organization. This commitment is shared by our employees and contractors.”

“Safety is everyone’s responsibility,” added Michael MacDonald, Business Manager IBEW Local 1928, “Every worker in the province of Nova Scotia has the right to a safe workplace and the best way to achieve this is through a shared commitment between the company, the union and each and every employee.

“Our friends and partners at Nova Scotia Power and the IBEW clearly understand the benefits of making their workplaces safer,” said Labour and Workforce Development minister Marilyn More. “We are heartened and encouraged by their success.”

-To subscribe to the principle that nothing is more important than the health, safety and well-being of employees, contractors, visitors and the surrounding community.
-To integrate health and safety into business strategies, processes and performance measurers, and to recognize that good health and safety performance supports good business results.
-To effectively manage health and safety risks by eliminating, minimizing or controlling hazards
-To strive for continuous health and safety improvement and to provide the leadership and internal capacity to make this happen.
-To provide and environment that enables all employees to participate and work collaboratively in developing, promoting, and improving health and safety at work.
-To extend health and safety efforts beyond the workplace, recognizing and supporting related initiatives within the community.
-To participate within a CEO health and safety leadership learning community, by providing and receiving information and best practices, with the goal of continuously improving health and safety strategies, programming and performance.

Congratulations to our members on safety milestones achieved in 2009-2010.

Safety Highlights were:
-Best safety performance ever at Nova Scotia Power in 2009.
-Signing of Safety Leadership Charter.
-Transmission & Distribution Division, one million person hours without a Lost Time Injury in September 2009 and will reach two million person hours in September 2010.
-Tuft’s Cove Generating Station reached one million person hours without a lost time injury in July 2010, last lost time injury was February 4, 2004.
-Working with NSPI and Regulator to promote Health & Safety in Nova Scotia.
-Members getting involved in leading Safety Education both within NSPI and Province.
-Outside Safety Audit conducted in 2009 – scored 95%.
-Three days Safety Education was conducted for over 250 IBEW Labour Pool members, instructed by IBEW members and NSPI Safety Department.
-Back Care Program was started in 2010 with IBEW members participating in a “Train the Trainer” education, and then rolling out to members.
-IBEW members were an integral part of NAOSH week, participating and leading over 100 events.
-Safety Excellence Awards received 103 nominations of employees/members throughout the company recognizing them for their commitment to furthering Health & safety.