The Personal Approach To Safety At Avenor

What do the El Nino weather patterns and an international forest-products company have in common? The East Coast of the United States. Most people probably don't immediately see the connection, but the employees of Canada's Avenor woodlands operations do. Last winter, they worked long hours to replace thousands of utility poles destroyed during the unusually severe ice storms that hit the Eastern United States. Though Avenor, Inc., may not be a household name, its products are daily household fare.

[Editor Note: The behavioral safety application in this article was implemented prior to the company's name change of Bowater: July 28, 1998.]

Avenor is an international forest products company with operations in Washington State and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. Avenor's Canadian operating facilities include four newsprint mills, three pulp mills, one white paper mill, five sawmills, two forestry centers and four woodlands locations. In addition to utility poles, the over 1000 employees of the Wood Products Group produce the lumber for building our homes and the wood chips used for making the newsprint in our daily newspapers.If consumers seldom consider the origination of such products, they probably don't often think about the personal safety of those who supply them. But Avenor's Wood Products Group has found a way to make safety every employee's personal business. And they did it by...getting personal. "We've always had group safety awards but the individual wasn't recognized for his specific contribution. Sure, you have to have group recognition, but there is also value on a personal level - that was the area that we really never addressed before," said Roger Shott, brush saw operator, who works in Ontario's Thunder Bay woodlands. "We've found that safety is an individual thing."It all started in Montreal, Canada, in 1996, when Avenor's Wood Products Group developed a task force of both management and hourly personnel to look for a new approach to the company's safety program. "Our safety record wasn't bad, but it wasn't the best. Our frequency had been going down for the last four or five years, but we ran into a stumbling block. It just sort of flattened out. We realized we had to change behavior to get to a higher level of safety," said John Venasky, safety coordinator.

After examining a number of options, the task force chose SafeR+, a behavioral safety process offered by Aubrey Daniels International. Avenor renamed the program WorkSafe, the first of several changes designed to make the process site specific. After completing classes in Montreal, the task force set out to start pilot projects in each of the operations. Training began in Dryden, the organization's largest single woodlands group of 160 employees, located in Ontario. "We had some real hard-core loggers in that training," Venasky commented.The task force knew that buy-in by the "hard-core loggers" was essential to WorkSafe's success. Behavioral safety relies strongly on observation of pinpointed safe behaviors. Data collection, feedback and positive recognition ultimately lead to the habit-strength practice of those behaviors. The behavioral safety approach would be difficult to implement without strong individual commitment, because Avenor's working logistics require self-observation as opposed to peer observation. "Our people work fairly remotely from each other," explained Shott. "That could mean anywhere from a hundred feet to a couple of miles apart. It's pretty difficult for a guy who's cutting wood to stop, get off a feller/buncher machine and drive a mile or two to observe somebody else operate an air machine."

Avenor's business includes not only the cutting and processing of timber but also the ongoing cultivation, planting and growing of forests. One piece of lumber represents decades of diligent attention. For example, after trees have been harvested, a cyclical system called civil care follows in which the soil is turned and new trees are planted. After 12 to 20 years of growth, juvenile spacing takes place, meaning the wooded area is thinned to ensure the forest's health and vibrancy. Then, in what is called the full-length operation, the limbs are removed from felled trees and transported to sawmills. Other trees are converted to chips before shipping. The organization also runs paper and pulp facilities. Add to the mix natural dangers such as harsh weather and forest fires. "It's a major operation with lots of safety concerns. "In the forest industry we plant the tree, water the tree, fertilize and prune it. Eventually we cut it down and make something out of it. But you can't just cut it down; you have to replace it with a new tree and begin again. The WorkSafe process works the same way.", said Phil Gardner, superintendent technical services. We're actually on the ground in all kinds of hazards," Shott stated. "These individuals must be responsible for their own actions, because they may be working on pieces of equipment or in isolated areas by themselves. We needed self-monitoring and individual ownership of WorkSafe."If successful in Dryden, WorkSafe pilot projects would follow for other Avenor woodlands departments, some of them separated by as many as 2000 miles. But the task force still wasn't sure how to gain the involvement of such a group of individualists. Realizing that for many learning is doing, the task force adopted the technique of self-monitoring by collecting data on a safe behavior card. However, the real brainstorm came when several task force members decided to test the method by targeting one of their own personal habits for change. After writing the behavior they wanted to bring to habit level on a card, they added columns for a simple yes (did the behavior) or no (did not do the behavior). Soon the checks in the no columns were beginning to annoy them. "We were at the stage where we said the cards didn't work so let's throw them away, because it's nothing but nos," Venasky explained. "Well, that's the point. That's the make or break it right there. If you realize that the nos are telling you something, then you're well on the road to improvement." Gradually cards full of nos became filled with yeses. In no time, the desired behaviors were habits.

Shott's wife noticed use of the little card had improved Shott's listening skills. "I felt I was making the changes for my job, but I didn't realize the spin-off, that the behavior change doesn't stop after work; it carries on 24 hours a day," he commented. Using the card, Phil Gardner, superintendent technical services, brought several positive behaviors, both personal and work-related, to habit strength. For example, he wanted to use his seat belt regularly but never seemed to remember to do so. "Every time I got in my truck, I'd either put my seat belt on or I wouldn't, he said. "The moment I realized I had or had not put on the belt, I'd take out the card and give myself a yes or a no. The nos were winning and it upset me. I kept plugging along, with the yeses gradually increasing until after maybe two or three weeks there were no more nos. It was done." Gardner continues to use the cards and to wear his seat belt. He also routinely suggests the card method to others who want to replace an old, bad habit with a new, good habit. For example, one coworker used the card to stop himself from using so many expletives, another to cut down on over consumption of soft drinks. Now, when introducing the employees to the WorkSafe process, the task force challenges each person to first apply the card method to a personal habit. Time after time individuals report changing habits they had previously thought unalterable. "We discovered very early with this behavioral stuff that until you're consciously aware that you're doing an unacceptable behavior, you can't make a change. That's when we really understood the value of the card. Experiencing the value of the process to make personal changes also demonstrated that the same method can be used on a work habit," said Shott. "That's the objective we have because the people who use it, when they make a change, are real believers in the system. Those are the people we need as drivers and reinforcers for WorkSafe." "That's how we're spreading it through our end of the woods," said Venasky.

Convinced of the process's validity, the employees expanded the technique to safe behaviors such as wearing reflective clothing in the bus, proper lock-our procedures of machinery, and safe three-point mount and dismount from equipment. Currently at Avenor, individuals pinpoint at least one personal behavior (out of three) for improvement. Participation is purely voluntary, a factor that task force members believe has made WorkSafe's acceptance so universal. "We let them know WorkSafe is available, and if they're interested, we can sit down and discuss it," Venasky noted. "And the biggest thing is, when you're out in the field, to constantly reinforce anybody who is participating." "WorkSafe is all self-observation," Gardner commented. "Nobody goes out looking, no clipboards. We get together informally; maybe the group gathers around a machine. The foreman collects the cards, all anonymous, at the end of the week and graphs them for the group. A lot of the process is the guys cheering for each other." The cheering apparently reverberated beyond Avenor's boundaries. For the first time in Avenor's history, another organization asked to come and observe the company's safety process in action. "In the industry, word usually goes around and, I guess, they found out we were using something new. They were benchmarking behavior-based safety methods, and this was the first using self-observation that they knew of. They called and wanted to benchmark with us and were impressed how the methods are working," explained Agneta Hollander, corporate director health, safety and employee relations.

The task-force team points to Hollander as the behind-the-scenes driver, facilitator and head coach of the behavioral safety approach. According to Hollander, the inspiration for her support and involvement with WorkSafe is the "human factor." "I really don't want people to get hurt, and I'll do everything that I can in order for that to happen," she stated. "I strongly believe that people have the right to leave work the way they came in, and I believe employers have the responsibility to give you an environment where you can work safely." Hollander credits Group President Darrel S. Madill for his visible and active support. Madill gave the thumbs-up to WorkSafe, seeks out feedback on its progress and recognizes those who keep it alive. "Mr. Madill believed in it; he gave our folks the freedom to operate and then he committed to it. If it weren't for Mr. Madill, none of this would have happened," she said. "We wanted action, not just words," Shott commented. "If you can get that out of your management and your people, that's what will make the process grow."Avenor's WorkSafe implementation grows daily coinciding with an improved safety record and employees with a new view of their role in maintaining that record. "What WorkSafe really has done is heightened the awareness of safety at the individual as well as the group level. It has given individuals a kind of ownership of safety," Shott said. "Before we always expected that the union or the company should look after us, but this has really put a responsibility on the individual to look after himself. It's really been different." For example, the Thunder Bay woodlands division, also in Ontario, works a tremendous number of man-hours with a large number of people. The frequency rate has dropped from 3.5 last year to the current 1.9. The Dryden division, with three pilot WorkSafe programs, reduced its frequency from 1.9 to zero.The lockout system for machinery became an outstanding example of success, not only because of the improved performance but because pinpointing the procedure evidenced the rising trust of Avenor employees.

In the lockout process, each machine operator must completely shutdown and lockout equipment, then tag the equipment with a personal lockout tag. Though failing to complete the behavior carries a stiff penalty, the employees were not exercising the precautionary lockout measures at habit strength. "The company'' lock-out violation policy is pretty severe, so the confidentiality factor of WorkSafe came strongly into play with the lock-out pinpoint. With that particular item, the employees had to believe that the no on the card was confidential and not an admission of guilt that would be used against them. If they put a no on that card, it means they are correcting themselves and that's what we want, the awareness and correction factor of WorkSafe," said Shott. Data shows that correct lockout procedure has improved from a baseline of 56 percent frequency to a current frequency of 98 percent. The task force is far from complacency, however. They continue to roll out WorkSafe, beginning new pilot projects throughout the Wood Products Group - projects that will hopefully take root. "We know our accident frequency is really low," Gardner pointed out. "But there's not a lot of space between a near miss and a fatality. We have WorkSafe started so we have a wedge - a wedge that we're going to expand by getting more people involved."

Avenor never forgets the importance of positive consequences for WorkSafe involvement. A steady supply of recognition, congratulations, celebrations and small tangibles helps maintain the high-and-steady rate of safe behaviors. However, task force members agree that a stronger reinforcer keeps the process alive. Venasky stated: "I think most employees get a real boost because this card is a contract they've made with themselves. I have guys tell me that their objective is to have a clean card of yeses for the week. They work hard and get disappointed when they have to throw even one no up there. I equate it to a golf card. You have to be honest with yourself. When you have a six on a hole, you have to mark a six or you're only lying to yourself. When they see they're doing well on the card, they're actually patting themselves on the back. They get that real sense of accomplishment. I don't think it matters what walk of life you're in. At the end of the day, when you know you've actually accomplished something, you have that good feeling that you've contributed. Because they are measuring themselves, they now have more opportunities to look and say, 'Yes, I did contribute.'"KEY POINTS"Our group president's commitment to the process was a tremendous influence. Make sure that your organization's management people are committed to and positively reinforcing your first pilot project. Don't start without their commitment, or you will have problems right off the bat."- John Venasky, safety coordinator"

We are a group of individuals who take a lot of pride in what we do. We're very adaptable. In the last 10 years, we've accepted phenomenal changes. What you will find though is that, when change comes and there is feedback, then the change will be successful. This is what we are learning from worksafe. If changes are made within the safety system, then you have to give as much feedback as possible whether the change is good or bad. People have to understand why it's happening. Our people, if you give them the opportunity and the tools to make the change, will adapt just fine because they're survivors."- Roger Shott, brush saw operator"We had to integrate the safer+ [worksafe] process into our own culture. You must make this work with your needs, your constraints. If I were to suggest three elements essential for sustaining the process, they would be commitment, consistency and communication."- Agneta Hollander, corporate director health, safety, employee relations"

We've always had many ways of measuring. For example, we measure production like crazy: how much wood was cut today? How much wood was skinned? How much wood was processed? It's hard work, not really glorified work, but it's work that has to be done, and our guys are proud of the work they do. That work ethic and the behavioral safety process fit like a glove, because once again we're measuring something that the guys can see at the end of the day. We never did that before with safety. We only talked about how many guys got hurt and what the accident statistics were. Nobody likes to hear that. Now, worksafe gives them a measurable avenue for really staying focused. And that seems to work."- Phil Gardner, superintendent technical services

A Noteable FactThe Avenor TREE logo and acronym, created by Roger Shott, brush saw operator, stands for Take Responsibility Employee Excellence