CRA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE: February 2015

A hearty “Hello” to all! I trust everyone had a safe and joyous holiday season.

Speaking of safety, the beginning of a new year is the perfect time to review the health of your safety program within your business. It is a great time to refresh, renew, upgrade and contemplate what your safety program requirements are. Are all your employees fully trained and certified in the areas they need to be? Think about the status of their training on aerial work platforms, forklifts, skidsteers, first aid, and the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System. Are your safety records current and up to date? Think here about your WHMIS, Material Safety Data Sheets, Transportation of Dangerous Goods, Safe Work Practices and Job Safety Analysis documents. You may be required to have a safety committee within your organization. Are they holding regular scheduled meetings? Take a moment to make sure you are in compliance with all your government regulations. You can meet the requirements for safety meetings in many jurisdictions with daily toolbox talks or branch huddles. Make sure the items discussed are being put into an action plan and followed up on. Your store should have an unsafe situation reporting system and an incident reporting system, with a process in place that ensures reports are addressed in a timely manner. Personal protective equipment is often overlooked. Are you doing monthly inspections of your facility, tools and equipment. Do you have a lock-out/tag-out program in place?

The safety checklist goes on and on. Safety cannot be a part time job. It must evolve into a culture within your business that is embraced by each and every individual. Everyone needs to take ownership in order to have a successful safety program. A business with a healthy and safe workplace not only promotes a prosperity but also attracts the top-notch people that all of us are always seeking. If you are a new or existing business looking to start or re-vamp your safety program and are somewhat lost and bewildered as to where to start, I suggest looking in your own backyard at your local rental association for help or networking suggestions. Your local construction association is also a great place to seek out ideas, courses, seminars and workshops on safety programs.

The majority of our customers and their related jobsites are demanding rental operators have a developed safety program in place. Also, we are hearing from our experts in the insurance industry that new federal rules may be coming that make keeping up-to-date documents a matter of law. Legislation aside, the physical and emotional costs attributed to workplace incidents and accidents far outweigh the money and time input involved in setting up a truly successful, committed safety program.

In light of all this, I want to announce that 2015 is going to be the “Year of Safety” for the Canadian Rental Association. As you can tell, the issue is very important to me and to our national vice-president, Tim Ranson of Cat Rentals in Edmonton. We have a number of initiatives in mind, starting with a special safety section on the association website. Our goal is develop resources that will help Canadian rental operators meet all their regulatory obligations to hold meetings, develop policies and keep documentation.

In closing, I wish each and every one of you a upcoming prosperous 2015. I very much look forward to seeing as many of you as I can through the upcoming trade show season and hopefully in New Orleans where I dare say it will be a tad warmer than balmy Manitoba. I also would very much like to express my sincere gratitude to Marc Mandin, Paul Kenyon and Jeff Campbell who will be leaving their respective positions with the CRA and ARA. They have been terrific mentors who have helped me tremendously in the transition period into the president’s role. As well I certainly look forward to the CRA 2015 season working alongside Nathalie. Should be a very exciting, challenging and rewarding year. See you soon!