Speaking SafeNickel with Sabrina

At our nickel assets, SafeWork has been adapted as SafeNickel, which supports our operation’s individual safety programs and protocols. In the Speaking SafeNickel series, Glencore Canada connects with employees asking them about SafeNickel, and safety in general, in order to keep safety top of mind for all employees and contractors. In this interview, we connect with Sabrina, Project Geologist, at Sudbury INO.

To me SafeNickel is ultimately a commitment to working safely by following policies/procedures and utilizing all tools and strategies to continuously improve and strive for zero harm. The goal is to go home the same way you came to work.

A majority of my role is working with contractors and I can honestly say that using safety standards such as FHPs has greatly improved our diamond drill activities. Over the years, we’ve made significant changes to procedures, site improvements and changes to the overall safety culture not only of our own  employees, but also of our contractors.

In my opinion, FHPs have added value to Sudbury INO as they are very detailed on more than one specific hazard. Certain issues can easily be missed while you’re doing an observation but FHPs help cover all aspects of the fatal hazard. The Pre-Task Assessment Card has also been a very powerful tool at our sites by having workers stop to reflect on the task prior to starting. The daily Stop & Corrects reported on the card have built positive safety discussions and overall made significant site improvements over the last few years.

My current priority regarding safety would be working with production-based contractors. It can be challenging to change a worker’s mind-set to understand that safety is our top priority. I truly believe that daily safety interactions, sharing learnings from past incidents in line-up meetings and building confidence in workers to report near misses have been contributing in preventing a safety incident. It is really great to see how we can work side by side with the same safety culture in mind. We have shown we can work together and have stretches of no recordable injury periods of two to three years. Certainly, we need to continue working together as zero harm is a journey. It is definitely a team effort, including strong engagement and commitment from our contractors.

Absolutely. Since I’ve joined Sudbury INO, my behaviour regarding safety has not only evolved at work, but also at home.