Edmonds Landscape and Construction Services Ltd.

Certificate of Recognition

What it is?

The Certificate of Recognition is acknowledgement by the Nova Scotia Department of Labour and the Nova Scotia Construction Safety Association that the Company has implemented and maintains a Health and Safety Program that meets certain standards for our particular industry. In NSCSA's own words, "The Certificate of Recognition is awarded to firms who have completed the training requirements, fully implemented a loss control program, and successfully participated in the Audit process." The Letter of Good Standing" is issued annually after the yearly audit is completed.

Our Certificate of Recognition was issued April 16, 1997, and has been renewed every year since then. In the last audit, we achieved a 92% score.

The Audit:

The annual audit is accomplished through a process of observation, interviews, and documentation. The categories we are scrutinized on are:

Company Safety Policy � its existence and continued review
Hazard Assessments
Safe Work Practices
Job Procedures
Company Rules
Personal Protective Equipment & Maintenance
Training & Communications
Inspections
Investigations
Emergency Preparedness
Records and Statistics
Legislation
Physical Plant
Supplementary Programs

The Company also has developed an Alcohol and Drug Abuse/Prevention Policy.

Maintaining the Program:

The audit process demands that we scrutinize our own program on an ongoing basis. This involves monthly, weekly and daily tasks including: vehicle inspections, work crew inspections, property hazard assessments, tool box meetings, maintaining equipment � the list goes on. Every time we do any of these things, documentation must be produced, dated and signed. The rule is, "if it isn't written down, it didn't happen".

Legislation & Training:

Every employee, whether a crew worker, office worker or management, must receive WHMIS training (Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System), whether or not they/we deal with any hazardous materials. Emergency First Aid training is required for both field and office workers.

Task related government regulations must be followed, and in many cases require that a trained person be on staff. The Construction Safety Regulations list 40 such categories � everything from "fencing and barricades" to "ladders", "excavations" and "hoists". Furthermore, there are always changes to the Act and/or the Regulations that must be adhered to, which means constantly keeping abreast of the changes.

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