Enbridge: Safe Operations
Originally published in Enbridge's 2020 Sustainability Report
There’s no question that building a bridge to a better future starts with safety; if we don’t get this right, nothing else matters. It’s our duty to keep the public, the members of our team and the environment safe.
We believe every incident can be prevented—a mindset that drives every one of our decisions, actions and interactions. Toward our goal of zero incidents and injuries, we strive to make our operations safer, to strengthen the system of barriers and controls that prevent leaks and releases, and build a stronger culture, where all team members demonstrate leadership in their pursuit of safety.
Safety
Safety is one of our core values, and our six safety principles highlight the fundamental beliefs we share on our path to a zero-incident workplace:
- All injuries, incidents and occupational illnesses can be prevented.
- All operating exposures can be controlled.
- Leaders are accountable for safety performance.
- All employees and contractors are responsible for safety.
- Assessment and improvement are a must.
- We promote off-the-job health and safety for our employees 24/7.
Enbridge’s Safety and Reliability Policy articulates our overarching commitment to safety and is an umbrella policy that incorporates policies related to six management programs that each business unit must implement. A robust governance framework identifies safety accountabilities and responsibilities at every level of the organization—from Enbridge’s Board of Directors through to all workforce personnel (including employees and contractors). Among other things, everyone has the authority to stop unsafe work and is expected to report hazards, potential hazards and incidents. Safety performance metrics are tied to each Enbridge employee’s short-term incentive pay.
Since 2019, we have been embedding the new Enbridge Safety Culture Framework into our organization. The Framework identifies four key traits—leadership, ownership, vigilance and resilience—which, taken together, create the model for a strong, well-functioning and sustainable safety culture, and drive excellent safety performance. We break each of these traits down into attributes and key behaviors that can be measured through regular surveys and assessments, allowing us to track them over time and map them against our teams’ safety performance.
Our new ESG goals include safety goals of achieving a 10% improvement over the previous three-year average total recordable incident frequency (TRIF) rate for employees and contractors, and maintaining industry leading safety performance against U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics benchmarks. To help us get there, we’ll need to execute well on the things we already do. We’re also conducting research into safety best practices—within and outside our industry—to inform our next three-year safety strategy.
