We strive to continuously enhance our health and safety program while fostering a high-performing safety culture.
Crew’s health and safety policies are founded on the fundamental principle that people come first. We maintain a strong emphasis on health and safety throughout our operations and practices. Our safety record is a testament to our unwavering dedication to prioritizing a safe environment for our employees, contractors, and the communities we live and work in.
Our Safety Performance
0 Fatalities
since inception in 2003
1765+
days with no lost-time injuries for employees and contactors
44%
decline in TRIF* from 2021
1
recordable injury for employees in 2022
3
recordable injuries for contractors in 2022, a 57% decrease from 2021
31%
increase in training hours for our employees and contractors since 2021
*Total Recordable Injury Frequency or “TRIF” is an important safety statistic as it measures the number of recordable injuries as a percentage of the workforce per 200,000 hours worked.
Leading Safety Indicators
“At Crew we have an evolved HSE culture from in depth training for all levels of leaders that focuses on each and every worker taking ownership of safety. Empowering people with the knowledge and skills, setting expectations as well as providing feedback and sharing learnings have brought us to where we are today. We take pride in projects and operations being executed safely, organized pre-planning and communication are some of the main keys to success in all aspects of our safely executed operations. A safe Crew is an efficient Crew.”
– Troy Wilkie, Operations Superintendent, with Crew for 2 years
Health and Safety
A safety culture is not built overnight; it takes dedication and commitment from the entire organization. At Crew, our safety culture is based on nine key elements and ingrained throughout all aspects of our operations.
1) Environmental Health and Safety Plans and Policies
Crew maintains a robust EHS Management System to protect our employees, contractors, the public, and the environment. We regularly update the nine elements of the system to reflect regulatory, operational, or internal procedural changes. Within the system, we also employ Energy Canada’s Life Saving Rules, which aim to promote a culture of safety, standardize safety rules, and reduce the likelihood of accidents and incidents.
2) Emergency Preparedness and Response
Crew has a comprehensive ERP designed to provide an immediate and effective response to incidents, regardless of size or complexity. Our ERP is based on the Incident Command System (“ICS”), and we require ICS 100 ERP Certification for all field supervisors and corporate responders.
To maintain active awareness and ongoing effectiveness of our ERP, we:
- Perform 1 tabletop exercise annually
- Review 1 component of our ERP monthly at each field safety meeting
3) Critical Incident and Risk Management
On a monthly basis, all managers, engineers, and our Chief Operating Officer (“COO”) meet to discuss various environmental, health, and safety incidents, hazards, risks, and mitigation tactics. With multiple perspectives and experience, strategies are identified, planned, and implemented to help maintain vigilance and protect our people and communities from potential incidents.
In conjunction with our robust EHS Management System and ERP, our operations are guided by various regulatory requirements and codes to help avoid critical incidents. We employ the strategies of prevention, detection, and response, utilizing manuals, plans, procedures, and programs designed by our team to respond quickly and effectively to any incident. We track all incidents, document root causes, preventative measures, and record remediation processes through DATS, our incident reporting tracking system.
Crew has taken a proactive approach by integrating a new process safety management standard into our Safety and Loss Management System. As part of our commitment to continuous improvement, we evaluate the effectiveness of our Process Safety Management System (“PSM”) quarterly. Furthermore, our Facilities and Infrastructure Manager remains a member of Energy Safety Canada’s PSM Community of Practice, fostering ongoing industry engagement and facilitating connections with PSM best practices.
4) Training
A key element of sustaining a strong safety culture is training employees and contractors to support their growth while helping them maintain job preparedness.
In 2022, Crew offered the Safety Excellence for Supervisors and Managers (“SEFSAM”) training program to all managers, field supervisors, and our COO. This program focused on developing leadership competencies and provided our people with the tools and strategies to manage workplace safety effectively and enhance our collective performance. Due to its success and the positive feedback received, we offered a condensed version to all field operators, Calgary office staff, and key contractors in February 2023.
“The SEFSAM training was a success and helped reinforce that for our organization to be a strong leader, we must incorporate the four values of business; production, profit, time, and EHS performance.”
– Corey Semeniuk, EHS Manager, with Crew for 15 years
Health, Safety, and Emergency Response Training & Education
5) Contractor Management
Contractors play a vital role in Crew’s operations. We strive to build strong, trusting relationships with our contractors to support our operations and help to maintain our safety culture. We aim to hire local contractors to foster growth in the communities proximal to our operations.
Contractor Management Program – Aligning with Crew’s EHS Management System, this program ensures all contractors hired have an EHS program that meets or exceeds our expectations and is oriented with our key policies and procedures. We use ComplyWorks, a third-party safety data management firm, to record and track our contractors’ programs.
Contractor Auditing Program – Building off our Management Program, this auditing portion includes field audits performed by our internal and external EHS personnel to determine if contractors are in compliance with our EHS expectations. We provide constructive feedback if compliance is not met as a way to support our contractors’ growth and prevent future occurrences. In addition, Crew conducts Contractor Spot Inspections, which are less thorough than an audit but focus on worker compliance. These are completed by Crew supervisors and EHS personnel.
>140 Audits
Since 2016, Crew has conducted over 140 contractor audits
~130 Inspections
Approximately 130 Contractor Spot Inspections performed in 2022
6) Communication
Engagement through various media and tools helps enhance and promote our strong safety culture. From townhalls, monthly field safety meetings, and quarterly meetings with our COO reporting EHS performance directly to Crew’s Board of Directors, safety is highlighted and discussed throughout our organization.
See ‘Our Stories’ for examples of Crew’s Safety Initiatives
Twice annually, Crew holds safety meetings with key contractors and supervisors to discuss safety improvement themes, including a general discussion on the path forward. Our annual spring meeting hosted 61 contractors, employees, and managers. Topics included risk tolerance, emergency response training, and a discussion on the changing workforce with new and inexperienced workers.
7) Proactive Monitoring and Reporting
Our commitment to a strong safety culture is reflected in our continuous efforts to identify, report, and monitor hazards, near misses, and positive observations. We see proactive reporting as a strong indicator of an engaged workforce. Our contractors play a critical role in identifying risks as they bring a unique perspective, having worked at various sites and operating areas.
These proactive measures are reported monthly at the management level and quarterly with the Board.
Outcomes of Crew’s proactive reporting in 2022 include:
- 1,944 hazard identifications
- 605 positive observations*
- 4 near misses
- Zero lost time injuries
*Positive Observation identifies actions of individuals promoting a safe work environment.
8) Safety Governance and Leadership Oversight
Safety performance begins with a demonstrated commitment from Crew’s Management Team, starting with a presence at the worksite. This level of onsite approachability helps facilitate conversations and identify if processes and systems are working as designed. Management visibility also demonstrates the importance of safety to Crew and reinforces that worker safety is paramount to our success.
- 195 field visits by management in 2022
Crew’s COO attends pre-spud and pre-project reviews, monthly safety meetings, incident review meetings, and safety committee meetings to maintain a level of oversight of our operations and demonstrate a top-down commitment to safety and its importance throughout the Company.
We maintain two Health and Safety committees that guide, uphold, and promote safe operations in their respective regions. In 2022, our field committee expanded to include all managers, engineers, and field supervisors.
9) Health and Wellness
We offer an extensive health and wellness benefit program, a health spending account, and a registered retirement saving contribution matching plan to promote our employees’ long-term health and well-being. Our partnership with Homewood Health offers an Employee and Family Assistance plan that provides our employees convenient and confidential access to a national network of counselors and clinical professionals who provide mental health support.
To raise awareness about the significance of mental health, we organized a “Tough Enough to Talk About It” session. During the session, we discussed the stigmas surrounding mental health, shared relevant facts, and provided information about the available support options for our employees facing mental health challenges.
Recognizing the importance of work-life balance, we support our employees with flexible working arrangements, offering flex days between Christmas and New Year’s and Fridays prior to statutory holiday weekends in the summer.
