At Harvest Operations Corporation we are focused on the full spectrum of safety, health and environment issues both in the Upstream and in the SAGD business. Each segment has its unique challenges and opportunities, but our overriding principles of safe operations with minimal impact to the environment are consistent across our entire business.
Stewardship of our SHE programs is the responsibility of our Reserves, Safety and Environment Committee of the board of directors, who review our performance on a quarterly basis. The committee is supported by our Operations and Corporate teams of dedicated professionals who regularly monitor our performance to ensure that Harvest conducts business in accordance with all regulatory requirements and industry best practices.
The health and safety of our workforce is of paramount importance at Harvest. But it’s not just about saying it. It’s about living it every day.
Our safety commitments in our SHE Policy are the foundations of our goal to have an injury-free workplace. The commitments are put into practice through awareness, education and empowerment of our employees and contractors.
A focus on Safety is a core value of our company. We provide all workers the information and tools they need to perform their work safely. We require anyone working with us to understand and work by our policies, practices and procedures. We also stress the importance of safe driving and require an alcohol- and drug-free workplace.
All new employees and worksite supervisors are provided with safety orientation and training to identify, assess and control potential workplace hazards. It is a requirement if a hazard is identified work will be stopped and hazard(s) reviewed, removed or reduced to an acceptable limit on the work site before work starts or continues. The following is a brief overview of our Safety, Health, Environment, and Emergency Response program:
The Harvest SHE Management system (SHE-MS) is the name we’ve chosen to describe the system of Policies, Practices and Procedures we have implemented across our operations. It enables us to establish ways to consistently apply our current best practices and incorporate new thinking. Corporate regulatory compliance at Harvest is achieved with the integration of our SHE management system (SHE-MS), Operations Management System (OMS), and Integrity Management System (IMS). These three management systems apply to all of our operating areas and are actively supported by all functional groups.
We maintain comprehensive corporate and site specific emergency response plans, and test them regularly to ensure personnel are adequately trained to effectively respond to emergencies and protect the public.
Prevention of occupational diseases and illnesses is an integral part of our health and safety focus. We take a risk-based approach to systematically identify, evaluate, and manage health hazards our workers may encounter. This involves addressing a wide spectrum of hazards, including chemicals, noise, material handling, fatigue, and even the hot and cold environments where we conduct our outdoor work.
In order to ensure we engage those contractors who share the same commitment to safety, Harvest uses ComplyWorks as its online safety pre-qualification system and safety performance data management tool. The ComplyWorks system is one of the ways Harvest shares information and expectations with its contractors which help to establish the foundation for improvements in both Harvest and contractor safety programs and overall safety performance.
We are proud of our environmental record and our focus on continuously improving. We believe Oil & Gas development and good environmental practices go together. Integrating environmental considerations into what we do makes us a better company and enables us to improve how we manage environmental challenges.
We strive to use, recycle and dispose of water safely; manage air emissions; limit our physical footprint; and minimize our impact on habitat, including wildlife. We work with our stakeholders to identify the unique needs of the different areas where we operate and continually look for ways to improve our environmental performance.
