Alberta Labour’s Provincial Seismic Program

Alberta Labour has identified six specialized program areas in its Business Plan for 1995. The specialized program areas include Seismic, Residential Construction, Forestry, Steel and Iron Foundries, Mining and Trenching.

The Seismic Industry was identified due to its high lost-time claim rate. The average lost-time claim rate in the Seismic industry for 1994 was 13 and the provincial average for all industries was 3.6. The lost-time claim rate for the Seismic Industry is in the top five percent of all industries. Alberta Labour is currently working as a partner with the Seismic industry and other stakeholders to improve health and safety conditions on work sites and to reduce the lost-time claim rate and related costs in the Seismic Industry.

Some general health and safety concerns in the Seismic Industry include: management systems, responsibilities under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, training of workers, slashing practices, camp conditions and extended hours of work. To address these health and safety issues, Alberta Labour has formed a provincial seismic committee to develop an action plan with a goal of reducing the number of lost time claims by 20%.

A major focus in the action plan is to promote successful health and safety programs. It has been proven that an effective health and safety program reduces incidents including lost-time claims, improves productivity and lowers operating costs.