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Taking action to reverse an increase in reportable and serious near-miss incidents                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Concerning Trend Drives the Need for a Change

The University of Alberta is one of Canada’s largest research-intensive universities with 44,000 students, a consolidated budget of over $2 billion, approximately 2,700 laboratory spaces, and many other unique work environments.

In 2021 and 2022, the university experienced a troubling increase in regulator reportable and serious near-miss incidents, including two that could have resulted in fatalities. The first incident involved a worker who was electrocuted while undertaking routine maintenance of a 15 kilovolt (kv) class switchgear. He suffered third degree burns on his upper body and required skin grafts. The second incident involved an explosion in a lab, which resulted from the build up of gases in a sealed vessel containing a hazardous mixture of aqua regia and an organic solvent. The bottle exploded moments after it was placed in a fume hood cabinet. The impact of the explosion damaged the doors of the cabinet and projected shards of glass across the lab. Although no one was injured, had the bottle been on the benchtop at the time of the blast, the outcome could have been catastrophic. These two incidents occurred within four months of each other.

Recognizing the gravity of the situation, the director of health, safety, and environment (HSE) engaged with the associate vice president, human resources, health, safety, and environment and the vice president, university services and finance (USF) to propose the implementation of a safety stand-down—a proactive event aimed at preventing work-related injuries or fatalities.

Implementing the Stand-Down Concept in the Higher Education Setting

Stand-downs are used to confirm shared health and safety responsibilities, reset safety expectations, and identify gaps in safety practices. Although common in industries such as construction, manufacturing, and mining, they are not common practice in post-secondary settings.

Considering the concerning safety trends and the occurrence of other serious near-miss and reportable incidents, the university president and senior executives agreed that the university needed to reset its health and safety practices through a safety stand-down.

Led by HSE, the process began with the president convening a meeting of all senior leaders, including faculty and college deans. The president and vice president (US&F) identified the concerns, cited incident trends, and required every unit or worksite across the university that engaged in higher hazard activities to host a safety stand-down with its workers. High-hazard activities were defined as any activity that involved hazardous materials, specialty and high-risk equipment, or the requirement for personal protective equipment (PPE).

The University of Alberta’s Safety Stand-Down Process

The safety stand-down process spanned a 60-day period and involved the following steps:

• Each unit identified a representative (supervisor, director, manager or principal investigator) who attended one of three stand-down briefing sessions.
• The appointed representatives were then responsible for hosting a unit safety stand-down within ten days of the briefing sessions.
• Units examined their worksites to assess if there were deficiencies in four specific areas:
  • Supervision
  • Hazard assessment and controls
  • Training and competency
  • Emergency preparedness
• Using a pre-designed form (form #1), units documented deficiencies and submitted them to HSE within a ten-day period.
• Units then had 30 days to complete a more detailed form (form #2) which outlined specific requirements in each of the four target areas. Units were asked to document actions taken to address the deficiency or identify a plan to address it. The supervisor/principal investigator provided an acknowledgement of the information's completeness and accuracy before submitting the form to HSE.
• The documentation clearly stated that all representatives would be held accountable for conducting the safety stand-downs and ensuring the desired outcomes of the process.

Resources for Stand-Down Leaders

To support the process, HSE developed a dedicated website and provided resources and guidance documents to assist representatives. These resources included examples of compliance measures and best practices, fostering a clearer understanding of safety expectations.

Results of the First Safety Stand-Down Effort

A total of 856 groups completed form #1 documenting deficiencies and 833 groups completed form #2 outlining the specific requirements in the four targeted areas. While groups were asked to complete both forms, some units did not complete form #1 and only completed form #2, while others only completed form #1. Consequently, there was a total of 1064 distinct units that completed at least one of the forms.

The results from Form #1 provided valuable insights into the university's safety practices and identify clear gaps in safety practices including:

• 28.1% identified potential deficiencies in supervision that required correction.
• 39.4% identified potential deficiencies in hazard assessment and control that required correction.
• 33.2% identified potential deficiencies in training and competency that required correction.
• 32.3% identified potential deficiencies in emergency preparedness that required correction.

After the 60-day period with the goal of addressing the gaps in safety practices, progress was made, but the results indicated that more work still needed to be done:

• Supervisory Training: While the majority of worksites had identified their supervisors, only 86.3% of supervisors had completed the mandatory Supervisory HSE Professional Development course.
• Hazard Assessment and Controls: Hazard assessments, mandated under Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety Legislation, were completed for 89.7% of worksites. However, groups indicated that controls were in place for identified hazards in 97.2% of worksites.
• Training and Competency: A training needs assessment had been completed for 91% of worksites, but the required training was completed for just 83.7% of worksites.
• Emergency Preparedness: Workers were able to identify the location of emergency equipment (e.g., emergency showers and eyewash, fire extinguishers, fire alarm pull stations, spill and first aid kits) at 97.1% of worksites.

Ten months after the Form #2 submission deadline, HSE completed a verification process of 10% of stand down participants, ensuring that all portfolios and campuses were represented, to assess whether health and safety gaps had been addressed through implementation of correction actions. The results of the verification process are currently being compiled and will be shared with the senior university leaders and the Board Audit and Risk Committee.

Context and Future Initiatives

The University of Alberta reached out to other research-intensive universities that also acknowledged similar safety trends in 2021-2022. While the exact reasons for these trends remain unclear, it is speculated that COVID-19 protocols, reduced lab activities, remote work arrangements, and an overall reduction in university activities may have contributed to a decline in focus and attention to health and safety practices.

Following the stand-down, the university has experienced a reduction in the number of reportable and series near-miss incidents, however it is challenging to determine if this was solely due to the stand-downs or if other factors may have contributed.

Ultimately, the safety stand-down did indicate that the university had deficiencies in its safety culture. In response to this, the U of A launched a Culture of Care: UofA’s Safety Action Plan in December 2022. This three-year plan identifies 42 measurable initiatives that will embed safety as a core value of the university so that everyone owns their own safety performance and the safety performance of those around them.

One Step of Many to Address Safety Concerns

It will be a long journey to enhance the university’s safety culture. However, the U of A is committed to this end state to ensure that every student, staff, faculty member and contractor goes home to their families safely every day.

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