SOUTHLAND Transportation Ltd. is driven by Safety in all of our operations.  We have a critical responsibility to care for our passengers, employees and the public in all of the communities we serve.

We define our commitment to safety by:

• Empowering our employees to react to potential safety issues by remedying them immediately – no job is every so important that we cannot take the necessary time required to do it safely
• Ensuring established safety procedures are followed by all of our employees
• Making regular, thorough inspections of our equipment and work areas to ensure safety and proper function
• Training our staff to anticipate potential problems and be aware of their environment
• Meeting or exceeding existing government regulatory requirements
• Responding to emergency situation quickly and thoroughly
• Striving for continuous improvement in our safety and health programs by setting challenging goals, measuring and evaluating performance, learning from our experiences.

We believe that collisions (Incidents) are caused – they just don’t happen.  Our objective is to seek out the root causes, devise protective measures, and promote a safety minded working attitude at all levels within SOUTHLAND.  Collision prevention is an integral part of our corporate culture and the way we conduct business.

Southland Transportation Ltd. Is committed to the protection of all its resources including employees, contractors, and physical assets from accidental loss.

 The commitment to protect is a management responsibility!  To provide and maintain a safe and healthy work environment in accordance with industry standards and in compliance with legislative requirements.  It is the personal responsibility of each Manager (Supervisor; foreman; Lead Hand/Mechanic) to ensure:

1. Safety “The Prevention of Loss” is a priority.

2. Safe work procedures are developed and followed

3. Equipment and Facilities are maintained to a high standard

4. A high standard of housekeeping is maintained.

5. Each employee and/ or contractor is responsible for supporting and assisting the “Safely Home” goal in incident prevention.

  To achieve maximum productivity without accidents is the personal responsibility of each manager, regardless of level, to ensure that employees and / or contractors under their direction have received adequate training in proper work procedures and that they are followed.  It is the further responsibility of each manager to ensure that all related regulations are enforced.

Each employee and / or contractor is responsible for using proper work procedures at all times and to observe all related regulations.

Purpose:

SOUTHLAND Transportation Ltd. is committed to the health, safety and well-being of our employees, and will strive to ensure that all appropriate safeguards are enacted to protect those individuals that must work alone.  This includes but is not limited to; those who work outside normal office hours and individuals who work alone in a SOUTHLAND building or driving after hours.

For the purpose of this policy, “to work alone” means to work alone at a work site in circumstances where assistance is not readily available in the event of an injury, illness or emergency.

This Policy Shall:

1. Provide a general description of procedures for establishing the safety of employees that must perform work alone.
2. Establish the hazard assessment procedures for Alone Work.
3. Provide a policy for Check-In Procedures

Roles and Responsibilities of Management

• First conduct a hazard assessment to identify existing or potential hazards arising from the conditions and circumstances of the work.
• Avoid scheduling Alone Work whenever possible, especially where a distinct level of risk is recognized
• Schedule higher risk work to be done during regular business hours, or when another worker capable of helping in an emergency is present.
• Establish an effective means of communication (telephone, two-way radio, etc..) between the worker and persons capable of responding to their needs
• Take all reasonable steps to eliminate any hazard(s) identified
• Take all reasonable steps to control any hazard(s) that cannot be reasonably eliminated
• Communicate the findings of the hazard assessment in writing to all affected employees
• Provide employee training and education to limit the dangers of working alone.
• All incidents occurring during alone work will be investigated and reasonable steps shall be taken to prevent a reoccurrence.
• Employees shall report all situations, incidents, or near misses where being alone increased the level of inherent danger to the situation, and make appropriate reasonable changes
• Charter manager to provide pre-route risk assessment to charter drivers
• Employees to sign an Acknowledgement of understanding for Work Alone procedures.

 Training

• Training will be completed for all new employees during orientation
• Training will be completed annually

Procedures for Employees

Communication

• The methods of communication that are available shall be two-way radio and cell phone
• The most appropriate form of communication
• Ensure that all emergency communication systems are in proper working order
• Ensure the emergency contact numbers are programed into the cell phone.

Check in Procedure

To ensure the safety of employees that must work alone, SOUTHLAND Transportation Ltd. employs the following check in procedure:

• Supervisors will be responsible for the preparation of a daily work plan to establish the location of the employee that is working alone, and the duration of time they will be required to work alone.
• Supervisors will ensure that a communication device for the employee to check in with is readily available and in a convenient location
• All drivers will beck in after a pre-trip inspection of the bus has been completed
• All drivers will check in when they have reached their destination

SOUTHLAND Transportation Ltd. recognizes environmental protection as one of our guiding principles and a key component of sound business performance.  We are committed to providing a quality service in a manner that ensures a safe and healthy workplace for our employees and minimizes our potential impact on the environment legislation and we strive to use pollution prevention and environmental best practices in all that we do.

We:

• Integrate the consideration of environmental concerns and impacts into all of our decision making and activities.
• Train, educate and inform our employees about environmental issues that may affect their work
• Reduce waste through re-use and recycling and by purchasing recyclable or refurbished products and materials where these materials are available, economical and suitable.
• Promote the efficient use of materials and resources throughout our facilities, including water, electricity and other resources, particularly those that are not renewable
• Avoid unnecessary use of hazardous materials and products, seek substitutions when feasible and take all reasonable steps to protect human health and the environment when such materials must be used, stored and disposed of.
• Purchase and use environmentally responsible products that have been selected on criteria including low toxicity or environmental hazard, durability, use of recycled materials, reduced energy and water consumption, reduced packaging and ability to be recycled, refilled or refurbished at end of life.
• Where required by legislation or where significant health, safety, or environmental hazards exist, develop and maintain appropriate emergency spill response programs
• Regularly communicate our environmental program to our employees, customers, and the public and encourage them to support it
• Strive to continually improve our environmental performance by periodically reviewing our environmental policy in light of our current and planned future activities

Procedure for Reporting Incidents of Harassment

• If you are being harassed tell the harasser his/her behavior is unwelcome and ask him/her to stop
• Keep record of incidents (date, time, locations, possible witnesses, what happened, your response). You do not have to have record of events in order to file a complaint, but a record can strengthen your case and help you remember details over time
• File a complaint. If, after asking the harasser to stop his/her behavior, the harassment continues, report the problem to the Regional Director/General Manager.  You also have the right to contact the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission to file a complaint of sexual harassment, and if the circumstances warrant a charge of assault may be filed with the police.

Dealing with a Harassment Complaint

Once a complaint is received it is kept strictly confidential.  An investigation is undertaken immediately and all necessary steps taken to resolve the problem.  If appropriate, action may include conciliation. Both the complainant and the alleged harasser are interviewed as are any individuals who may be able to provide relevant information.  All information is kept in confidence.

If the investigation reveals evidence to support the complaint of harassment, the harasser is disciplined appropriately.  Discipline may include suspension or dismissal, and the incident is documented in the harasser’s file.  No documentation is placed on the complainant’s file, where the complaint is filed in good faith, the employee lodging the complaint as well as anyone providing information is protected from any form of retaliation by either co-workers or superiors.  This includes dismissal, demotion, forced transfer, denial of opportunities within the company, or harassment of an individual as a result of his/her having made the complaint or having provided evidence regarding the complaint.

Responsibility of Management

It is the responsibility of a manager or supervisor to take immediate and appropriate action to report and effectively deal with incidents of harassment of any type whether brought to their attention or personally involved.  Under no circumstances should a legitimate complaint be dismissed or downplayed not should the complainant be told to deal with it personally.  SOUTHLAND Transportation Ltd. seeks to provide a safe, healthy and rewarding environment.  Harassment is not tolerated in the company! If you feel you are being harassed, contact us.  We want to hear from you.

Idling means the engine is running while the vehicle is stationary. Unnecessary idling wastes fuel and creates harmful emissions.

In addition to policy requirements regarding plugging-in and cold weather starting, it is the policy of SOUTHLAND Transportation Ltd. that company owned vehicles are not idled excessively.

• Except for idling in traffic, idling time during warm weather morning start up (warmer than -10 °C) and normal operation must be limited to 3 minutes.
• During cold weather morning start-up (of -10 °C or colder) engines should idle no longer than 10 minutes in order to defrost the windows.
• Diesel engines must be placed on “high idle” whenever idling is required.
• Drivers are prohibited from leaving vehicles unattended while idling unless otherwise directed by the Maintenance Department or their supervisor.
• Engines are not to be idling while awaiting departure at schools except when students are on board and weather conditions require heat, or for other safety purposes.
• Buses must not idle while waiting for passengers during field trips, extracurricular activities, or other events.

Senior management may authorize variations to this policy during extreme weather, emergency situations, or with pre-approval for specific vehicles to meet operational needs. At its discretion the Maintenance Department may require prolonged engine idling for diagnosis or repair of the vehicle.

Failure to comply with the idling policy may result in loss of the Safe Driving Award or discipline, up to and including termination.

Southland Personal Protection Equipment (PPE)

Operators of Southland Transportation Ltd. vehicles must wear seatbelts during operation of said vehicles.  All employees are required to wear PPE when required.

Some examples are:

• CSA approved steel toed boots
• Safety glasses with side panels
• Respirators
• Face shield
• Rubber gloves
• CSA approved propane fuelling gloves
• Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS)

Note: Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) are accessible in all shop locations.  They are also available online at: msdsonline.com

Reference Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) Act, for specific instructions and use of PPE.  This legislation may also require additional components to be covered in the safety program.

To consult the Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) Act, refer to the website:

work.alberta.ca/occupational-health-safety.html