Health and Safety Committee, Nelson Discusses H&S

Nelson Brison, President
Contingency Safety Solutions Inc
1-(902)-580-3554
nelsonbrison.css@gmail.com
contingencysafety.css@gmail.com
www.contingencysafety.com

Carriers Edge episode
https://pdcn.co/e/www.buzzsprout.com/851032/5454205-32-online-truck-driver-training-the-good-the-bad.mp3?blob_id=22380712&download=true

Keeping it Safety Dawg Simple!

Transcript

0:01

And welcome to another episode of the Dawg On-It Trucking Pawedcast. My guest this week is none other than Mr. Nelson from Halifax Nelson. Come on in and join us. There we go. How you doing? My friend? I'm doing very well. Chris, how are you? Excellent. Excellent. What's the weather like today in Halifax on December 2nd? I think. Well, Well, I'd have to say in early December, it's a little bit of a rotten November kind of a day. It's rainy and spinny and little chilly, but it's supposed to get better for the next two days. So we're always hopeful in the Maritimes for a change in the weather. Well in the merit, well, we all get changes in the weather and right now it's a hyper shovel and everything else yesterday, but Nelson, what's the name of the company that you are running Contingency safety solutions. And what the heck does contingency safety solutions do? Well, we are an occupational health and safety training company, and we also offer occupational health and safety management systems and implementation. That's what we do. What, how does occupational health and safety relate to trucking? Oh, there's I guess to step back a little bit, Chris, my first experience with truckers and trucking was I had to lie about my age at 15 years old to get a job in truckers in motel with a lounge restaurant steakhouse, laundry service, 110 room in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. And I worked before to 12 shift every day and I got to see and learn a lot and kind of been involved in and around it most of my life. And I think of all the industries, the industry that faces the most perils on a daily basis is tracking. Sorry. Why do you think on a daily basis we face the most perils, as you said, Most unknown things on the road in all conditions, oftentimes on the road too long, historically, I think that's changing for the future and changing now tracking is a very difficult job. It is a difficult job. And with ELD, either present or a boat to come, depending on the nature of the trucking, I was just reading about the Ontario law that they proposed. And it looks like they're going to mimic the federal law, almost word for word. So, and the feds are bringing ELD in, in June of 2021. So I, sorry, go ahead. Nope. Yeah. And of course, if you're an American carrier, if you're a Canadian carrier that goes to the States, you've already had it ELD for quite some time. So ELD, these, I think have improved the hours of service compliance and improve the work environment, but still truckers get hurt every day. Yes, I agree. And I, I'm a very big proponent of the LDS. I think it's a great idea. I think it's essential. I think it protects the public. It protects the driver and ultimately protects the companies and they're insuring insurance providers. Well, it, yeah, for some reason, I don't know why in the past truck drivers have been measured by how well they can cheat and lie and how tough they are. Yeah, exactly. And not. And unfortunately that has caused some crashes and cost lives and injuries and everything else. So what is it, where do you service? What area do you service? Mostly Predominantly Atlantic Canada, but we're also growing and entering like everybody is today, the digital online training world. And we're, we're working with partners in the trucking world to add our courses to their lineup. And I'm not sure if it's okay to mention this, but we've recently signed on with carriers edge. We think they're an incredible organization. We're very impressed. Their platforms really amazing. It's well done. And we look forward to participating with them and actually promoting their platform and our services on a regular basis. Sorry, I'm just scrambling to make a note. I'll put a link in the show notes to the interview I did with Jane Jane is the co-founder of carrier's edge and she appeared on the podcast some weeks ago. So I'll put a link in the show notes for that. I agree with your carriers edge is an outstanding company and I too have partnered with them for some of their services. So tell me more about what you're putting on the platform and how that will affect trucking companies. Well, initially we're going to try to work any areas of one in introduction of occupational health and safety on a federal level due diligence and the standard applied and the third creating a safety culture. And we are really interested in working with some of the small to medium trucking companies. We believe that safety culture starts from ownership and management. If, if the owners and managers buy in and represent a positive safety culture, it permeates throughout the organization. It makes companies far more productive. It makes a driver retention much higher. And if people are happy to go to work for their employer and feel safe, then to me, that's a positive that we can all work towards. Yeah. And I think that's something that has been lacking in the past and in some trucking companies, certainly not in all, but you've got to be able to go to work and believe that your boss has your best interest at heart and that they truly want you to be safe and perform your job safe and moving the freight is a secondary exercise to the employee's safety. So how is this going to work on carriers, ed your, when do you think your first offering is going to be available and then how's it all going to fit together for a trucking company? Cause you said this is going right across Canada basically. Well, we're hoping to, and we're hoping to work into some of the cross border training as well, going forward as we develop our training programs, you know, to cater to the trucking industry and some of the issues that they're running into, especially in today's world where there's lots of issues at the border with the pandemic concerns that are happening right now. And there's a lot of political turmoil at the borders right now. So, and the trackers are feeling the brunt of this and the trucking companies are paying for it and feeling the brunt of it. So we are in the process right now of digitizing these three courses. We hope to have them done before Christmas, ready for the new year and added to under the courses. The courses are an introduction to occupational health and safety, federal introduction. So will encompass all the regions of Canada due diligence and the standard for businesses and their legal obligations. And we are putting a, creating a safety culture course together. Awesome. We're going to add those to the program, as long as carriers, edge, approves, everything, they have a pretty high standard for what they add to their program. So Yeah, no, that sounds awesome because I'm not aware that there's anything like that on the platform right now. No, and that's why we, we went through their platform and we didn't want to copy anybody. We don't want to try to take anybody else's business. That's already operating successfully on that platform. That's not our intent. Our intent is to work with the trucking industry and fill the voids and gaps where our expertise allows us to really that. So how give us Suggestion. I just left the company yesterday that I think has a great culture. How do you build a safety culture in a company? Well, I think you start again back to ownership and top management and you have a initial conversations with those people to find out where their program is, how it works with the employees, whether it's interactive, whether it's progressive or updated. And I think one of the things that we concentrate on is communication from the front line workers in tracking and all industries with middle and upper management. So everybody's on the same page and that is a learning and an implementation process. It doesn't happen overnight. I don't think it's a system that you can put in in three months and have your insurers and the worker's compensation boards believe, or, you know, the workers believe that you really have a safety culture. I think it's something that has to be worked on and operated on everyday recorded. There needs to be tracking and there needs to be ongoing training in various fields And training for sure. And of course not to promote carriers edge, but that's one of the ways that truck drivers can receive ongoing training. But one of the areas that I see often not attacked or lack of a better word, just neglected is the documentation of it. All. I was on a carrier recently when we were talking like, you know, do you do monthly building inspections? Yep. Do it every day. And where every month. And I look at my fire extinguishers and I actually looked at a firework extinguisher and sure enough, there was initials there. I said, then what documentation do you have to show? What defects you found? And then of course they had none. Do you help out in areas like that as well? Well, yes. A lot of this comes down to the effectiveness of year Josh committee or joint occupational health and safety committee and its relationship to management. In my opinion, in my experience, I've, I've sat on many, I've led a couple, I've created a couple and I've been in situations where management was very responsive and reactive to workers in and safety concerns. And I've been in situations where we were just to meet once a month and rewrite our list. One of the things that I found that worked when we did implement a program is what you mentioned is when we documented and we documented our meetings, we documented our, our, our inspections, our equipment, our building, our safety practices. It always seemed to work better, but it was always dependent on management and ownership being involved and taking it seriously. And I think that's changed through a great deal in today's culture. And I think they people understand that a safe workplace is a healthy and profitable workplace today. So I think there's lots of opportunity for us to work with companies. And I think there's a lot of companies that want and need that kind of service personally. Well, first of all, I mean, when I go into my clients, you know, typically 50 trucks in less or the size of my accounts. And if I ask them about joint and health joint health and safety committee, they often look at me as if I have two heads. So what size of company, but is required to have a joint health and safety committee In our region, 10 people. Okay. I believe it's different in, cause I always thought it was 20. Is that a federal standard or I believe that's a provincial standard here that in, in Nova Scotia, it's when you reach a, a 10 employees, you're required to have a health and safety plan and an occupational health and safety committee. All right. And those employees who work remote such as truck drivers, who very seldom show up at the sites, are they counted in that number? That I'm not sure, Chris, that's a very good question. And there may be caveats to that based on the trucking industry, but that's, that's something that I have a conversation this week with the trucking association of Nova Scotia and certainly a question I'm going to pose to them because you've kind of caught me with my, my proverbial pants down on that one. I don't know. And I didn't mean to, and all that's good. That's good. All employees count no matter where they work, That's the whole idea. And in particularly truckers who are probably 80 or 90% of their time is remote. Yeah, no, they spend very little time in a terminal or, you know, if they're at a loading dock at somebody, else's normally, It's a, it's a great question. I think nowadays to ask the trucking association, because of, I think in the future, we're going to have a lot more office people working remote as well. Yes. As I am today, I mean, It's, COVID, we've changed the way of office work has changed. So, but anyways, going back to join health and safety committees, I really believe this is a neglected area of many trucking companies. And it's my understanding in Ontario, at least trucking companies with 20 or more employees have to have a joint health and safety committee. And I believe they count driver Inc drivers in that number as well that I'm not sure of, but it would be interesting to know if they count driver, Inc. I'm going to ask the question. I will pose the question this week when I had my conversation. Sorry. I'd like to know too. Yeah. Well get back to me with the answer because when this goes live on Friday, as you update me, I can put the answer in the show notes. Okay. Well I hope I can get us an answer by Friday. It doesn't have to be by Friday, but as soon as you do get the answer, because this episode is going to live for years, I hope, Oh, I see. Yes. And you can add it to the right And I can put it in the show notes. So, and I didn't mean to catch, as you said with your pants down, cause God, I don't want to see that. No, it's not pretty anymore. It's just not, but no, I'm not sure that either my, my significant other, my wife of almost 35 years, she obviously thought so at one time and I'm keeping her fooled. So I'm going to leave it at that. But no, Chris, one of the reasons we have these conversations and I became so interested in your podcasts is because of one, the casual nature of the conversation. And two, I find in every podcast I've watched so far, there's questions posed that do make you raise your eyebrows from both sides, from yours and from the guest side. And that's, if we're gonna improve and we're gonna teach safety culture, then we have to be open to learning too. So you'll never shock me or embarrass me by asking me a question. I don't know. There's lots of them that I don't know the answer to. And I appreciate that because I really believe the best experts in every field don't know at all. And when you recognize that, Hey, I don't know that answer, but I can. I know where I can find that out. That's one of the reasons you're a trusted expert because they believe that you just don't shoot from the hip. You know what I mean? You find out the answer first before you lead a client down the wrong path. Well, and I think it hope that's one of my talents is I I'm reluctant to give out an answer or an untrue answer or make up an answer on the spot. And I try my hardest to surround myself with intelligent, respected people in industry and network that way. And I learned very early in my life in business. And especially when I stepped out on the road and sales, stepping into somebody's shop and pretending I knew more than them, wasn't very successful. So I was the first one to say, I'm not sure, let me find the answer and then search for someone who really knew the answer. And, and that's always worked pretty well for me. So, and that's what I'm trying to do in, in the, you know, the tracking safety business and, and, you know, and work towards helping these companies become not only safe, but operational, because my understanding, Chris, if you don't mind me changing the topic a little bit is the insurance providers are starting to tighten up what they expect and what they'll accept for safety programs with companies going forward. And they they're, they're looking for programs that are in place operational and effective, not somebody who runs out and gets a program in place for three months ahead of their insurance audit. And you might get away with that once, but you might get rated for it. And if you try it twice, you will get rated or refused. And that's what I've been learning through webinars and podcasts. And, and actually that's one of the conversations that initially opened up, I believe in. And the reason I found out about carrier's edge was your podcast with Jane initially Glad that it did. And in regards to the insurance companies, you're absolutely correct in that the insurance industry has gotten much tougher. Currently they are putting more trucking companies out of business or into financial hardship. Then the local DLT or, you know, department of transportation is because they they've really tightened up. And yes, they want to see safety measures much more than just safe driving. Now they are asking the safety committees and what are you doing for employees? Health benefits, many different things. And as you mentioned, what are you recording? Yeah. The documentation. This is what you've got to show with that auditor. And some of the insurance companies, as you know, that's my background is I used to be one of those fellows, the insurance company, and I, as much as I never called it an audit, when I worked for them, what would you call a visit from somebody who can greatly affect your insureability, whether you actually get insurance or not, and greatly affect your premium, if you're offered insurance, what Would you call that? I know some of the people call, they call it a review visit. You can call it, you can call it what you want is scary. And it's life-changing for these companies. And I think we can help alleviate some of it and prevent some of it. And that's what we're hoping to, to work towards. And we want to work in, in actually the exact same or Rita. You do Chris, the 50 trucks and smaller industry. I think some of the bigger companies are advanced in this area, or they wouldn't still be in business. It wouldn't be able to keep their trucks on the road or their, their drivers insured or retain drivers. I think it's just part of the, the evolution of the industry today. But some of the small trucking companies have a little more difficulty with that. They struggle a little more with revenues at times as well. And, and it can be pretty, it can pretty scary, be pretty scary for them from their perspective. And every time there's a change in legislation or, you know, or change in politics, sometimes it can, it seems to affect the transportation industry. It's huge things, almost everything affects transportation. I mean, look at COVID as affect the transportation, but I got to ask you a question. If you can, one tip to those small trucking companies of 50 and less, what would your piece of advice be? I guess, and she's, I hate to sound like it comes out of a book, but embrace safety. It makes your company more profitable. Your customers recognize it, your drivers and employees recognize it. And you get loyalty from all of the above when it's fully represent. People are observant. I think that's well said. I think that's perfect. You've got to embrace it. And then from our point of view, you also have to document it. So you can prove that we did what you say you did because a lawyer friend of mine once told me about the three PS policies, procedures, and proof. And he said, which ones do you think? I lack when I go to court. Right? Right. It's number three, always. And, and we were all reluctant, especially people who work in the blue collar world and work hands on. And, and aren't always in front of a computer around paperwork. This is a little bit of the challenge that's to be bridged, to, to make this more accessible, easier, I guess if it involves everybody and it's not late at the end on the driver alone. And it's at every level through administration and management and ownership, driver compliance, I think you're going to get rogues in every industry, of course. But I think for the most part driver compliance and driver participation will follow suit. That's my personal belief. I agree now for our listeners, I will put your contact info in the show notes below. If somebody wants to reach out and get some advice on occupational health and safety, health, and safety committees, both in the Atlantic region, but even right across Canada, as you say, you can offer services to any Canadian corporation because you know, the federal Reich's. Yeah. Yes. And we can certainly offer our occupational health and safety management systems to companies, regardless of their level of safety maturity, we can integrate with their system, help them grow their system, make proper recommendations to their system and then help them implement their system, including their, their safe work practices, their operational practices, show them how to write them properly, how to record them as you say, properly documentation. And it's not, you know, a once over thing where you have a couple of meetings and then it's over and everybody's magically cured. This is a thing where you work with the company over a year and two years and become a resource for them. And really, as I've mentioned in the past, Chris, I may have said it to you if we do our job, right. We kind of work ourselves out of a job with each company eventually. Yeah. And that's right. Once you set the processes up, very similar to what I do, and I'm not a health and safety expert. I like to think of myself as the safety and compliance expert. I know national safety code and SMS and that stuff, your area I don't know very much about at all. And it's a totally distinctive area. Nelson, what else do we need to know about either you or your company before we wrap this up? Well, a little bit of history. One of the reasons that pushes me into this area of safety is my middle child. Oldest daughter entered the trucking industry at 20 years old. And for five years she drove a kilt DEC tow truck, about 30% roadside and about 70% equipment delivery to construction and industrial sites did a few runs back and forth to Ontario and Quebec. And I was worried every time she went out the door and in all conditions and she to make a living in it, she had to work almost 70 hours a week. That's a little bit of a, a thing in my, you know, a little bone that I have with, with not the trucking industry, but industry around the trucking industry. My understanding is that rates are going to go up in the future. And I believe that's a good thing. And she left the industry after five years, a little bit because of safety. And she got scared a couple of times, and now she's just taking her third block of apprentice electrical. But that's what spurred me into this. Along with some of my best friends over the years have our safety trainers and very experienced ones. And my top two trainers, and one of my partners between them have over 75 years of industrial commercial construction, offshore, and onshore oil and gas and international training experience. So that's who I draw on for my expertise. I've predominantly, I've never taught a training course in my life, but since 1999, I've been on every occupational health and safety committee and involved in safety and taking every safety course that they would allow me to take. So big proponent and years ago, I owned a restaurant where we had so much safety. It was crazy. We had food safety and knife safety and spill safety and burn safety. And it's just always been there, Chris Nelson. So for anybody that's listening and watching, first of all, I'd like to say, thank you. Nelson's contact info is in the show notes below, and you can reach out to Nelson and he would be happy. I'm sure to get an email or a phone call from you. And that will be certainly for coming on the show. Thanks so much. Thank you very much, Chris. It's been an absolute pleasure. Thank you. Hope you love the show. As much as I did, please leave us a, like a thumbs up a review, a comment, a rating. Thank you so much. And I do really appreciate your time and join us again next week for another exciting interview.