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Safety Month – how Cooper used the month of May to focus on Safety!

Across North America the first week of May is dedicated to Construction Health and Safety. This year Cooper Equipment Rentals decided to extend the focus into a safety month, emphasizing four different areas of safety for our employees:

  • Week 1: Healthy Mind
  • Week 2: Physical Health
  • Week 3: Emotional Health
  • Week 4: Competency

Safety has always been a cornerstone of the Cooper Difference says Dave Badger, EHS Manager, at Cooper Equipment Rentals, aligning our team members in all 50 branches across Canada, to focus on safety awareness for the entire month of May, was an important step to keep it top of mind as we head into the busy construction season.”

Here are 5 activities that Cooper implemented for a successful safety month:

1. Toolbox talks

Every month each Cooper branch holds a Tool Box Talk (TBT). This is an opportunity for our Branch Managers to discuss key safety topics with our team and to have an engaging and interactive discussion to ensure everyone is understanding the correct safety policies and procedures.

In the first week of May to kick off Safety Month, Cooper held a TBT every day in our branches, with the focus on Healthy Mind. At the end of the week there were interactive quizzes to ensure that the team had understood and could apply the learnings from the week’s TBTs.

For the following weeks in May, TBTs were held in Cooper branches each Monday focused on the safety theme that week, and Branch Managers handed out gift cards during the week to team members when they demonstrated safety-focused behaviours.

 

2. Why I work Safe

On the first day of Safety Month during the TBT, each Cooper team member was asked to write a “Why I Work Safe” statement as a reminder of why it’s so important for us take the extra time to stay aware of our surroundings and to keep safety top of mind. The statements were then stuck to the wall as a reminder for the rest of the month of why it’s important to us personally to work safe.

“Why I Work Safe” wall at the Cooper branch in Sudbury, Ontario

 

Cooper’s Lethbridge, Alberta team displaying their “Why I Work Safe” statements

 

3. Safety-themed videos

Each week the Heath & Safety team were involved in creating videos related to that week’s theme, to share their knowledge and give advice on how we can all stay safe. These videos were shared internally with the whole Cooper team and also externally on our social media channels, to share key safety tips with our community.

Check out the Safety Team’s “Conversations with Cooper” videos below:

 

4. Safety Quizzes

Branch Managers held quizzes on the Friday of each week of Safety Month, to have a little team fun and to reinforce the learnings from the Tool Box Talks. One branch in particular went old school with their Price is Right Cliffhanger themed quiz!

Cooper’s Ottawa branch had a Price is Right Cliffhanger quiz at the end of the week!

5. Participating in the Steps for Life Walk

On May 16th the Cooper team helped raise awareness and funds for the Threads of Life sponsored walk Steps for Life. It was a fun and healthy way for the Cooper team and our families to help support and raise awareness for the Association for Workplace Tragedy Family Support, known as Threads for Life. We set a goal to raise $5,000 and we were very happy to exceed that by raising $6,490! We are looking forward to beating that achievement next year!

We’re looking forward to building on our successful safety month next year, and we encourage you to participate in a safety month within your organization next year too!

Stay safe!

 

Safety Training

Safety should be top of mind every day, not just during the month of May. It’s important to provide the training your employees need to stay safe on the job. Cooper offers a wide range of in-class and online training and awareness safety programs, from how to safely operate a forklift and aerial equipment, to first-aid awareness and working with hazardous materials. If you’d like more information on our training programs for you and your employees, please check out the Training section of our website, or call 1-800-315-COOP.

 

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