January 19, 2006

Gil McGowan

Safety training stepped up in oil sands, chemical valley

PETER KENTER

correspondent

SARNIA

New construction projects in both the Sarnia area and in Fort McMurray, Alberta have one thing in common — safety training is a priority for the thousands of construction workers entering area workforces.

“We’ve had up to 2,000 construction workers here who aren’t resident in the Sarnia area,” says Ray Curran, Chairman of Labour Relations, Sarnia Construction Association.

Most of the construction safety training in the area is handled by the Sarnia-Lambton Industrial Educational Co-operative an employer-funded central training facility.

“It’s a model that’s unique in Ontario,” says Curran. “We have huge training demands, and this helps us meet them, with site-specific training held by individual employers.”

In the oil sands, much of the construction safety training is handled by the Oil Sands Safety Association, created by the big four employers — Albian Sands Energy Inc., Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Suncor Energy Inc., and Syncrude Canada Ltd.

“The amount of activity here is tremendous,” says Alain Moore, Public Affairs Specialist with Syncrude. “We’re now in the final stages of our expansion, so our construction activity is ramping down. An advantage of universal training is that many construction workers will be going from here to other sites in the area.”

While safety training for smaller companies hasn’t been compromised, it has slowed down, says Charles Iggulden, President of the Fort McMurray Construction Association.

“The challenges are getting the guys into courses. I’ve sent some of my guys to be trained in Edmonton because the courses are full here, and I’ve been trying to get into some courses myself for three or four months.”

Gary Wagar, Executive Director of the Alberta Construction Safety Association, says that some courses are heavily booked, resulting in longer-than-average wait times, but basic safety training programs are keeping pace with the market.

“If someone wants to become a safety training officer, the wait might be two months,” he says.

Although some reports indicate that the Fort McMurray area is seeing a rise in undocumented construction workers without proper safety training, the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) says that isn’t a current problem.

“On the big projects, you can’t enter construction sites without safety training certificates,” says Gil McGowan, President of the AFL.

But, while the AFL supports the the use of immigration as a tool to meet labour needs, McGowan says that there isn’t a shortage of skilled Canadian construction workers available to the Alberta market.

“We see this as a tight labour market, but not a shortage,” says McGowan “Bringing in large numbers of temporary workers, especially from non-English speaking countries would definitely put a burden on the training system. Language barriers also compromise communications on the job site and that compromises safety.”

McGowan points to efforts by some Alberta groups to eliminate the Red Seal program that certifies members of skilled construction trades to work in any province.

The AFL sees the effort as a precursor to an influx of temporary workers.

“That has great implications for the safety of not only those workers, but the workers around them,” says McGowan.

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