荔枝视频

After Brandon Nelson died in 2022, while performing routine maintenance on a giant shovel system in the oilsands three years ago, the employers and contractors involved pleaded guilty under provincial occupational health and safety laws, and were fined.

Under creative sentencing, instead of that money going to the province, it鈥檚 paid to a third party鈥攖ypically a safety association or post-secondary institution鈥攖o use to address occupational health and safety concerns. In this case, the $1.24 million fine will fund research and industry engagement that explores the psychology behind work-based safety. 

鈥淪afety can be viewed as just another behavior in the workplace. What are the variables that would influence a safer decision versus a less safe decision?鈥� says Dr. , BA'05, PhD, organizational psychologist and professor in the in the , and project lead. 

Working with researchers at Mount Royal University and the University of Alberta, O鈥橬eill will explore various human and organizational factors of the workplace, including a person鈥檚 individual risk tolerance and their relationship with their immediate boss. 

鈥淪ome supervisors create a style where it's psychologically safe to speak up and express concerns about the danger involved in a job, whereas other supervisors make you feel like you'll be punished for doing that,鈥� he says. 

Another factor the researchers will explore is a worker鈥檚 relationship with their colleagues; the crew dynamics. 鈥淭he team that you鈥檙e working with, the crew, will tend to develop norms that are safety conscious or norms that are around cutting corners to get the job done.鈥�

Rather than delivering results applicable to only the three companies involved, O鈥橬eill鈥檚 work is intended to improve training and other health and safety programs across mining and construction in Alberta. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 about industry trends and creating awareness and creating solutions in Alberta,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd there's certainly the possibility of extending it beyond Alberta.鈥� 

Nelson died instantly when a pendant line in the shovel system he was working on dropped on him. The drop may be related to the lack of a common standard for training workers in rigging and lifting operations. 

鈥淵ou have all of these various training companies and institutions that train in their own ways, and it's created confusion,鈥� says O鈥橬eill. 鈥淚t鈥檚 quite a technical and high-risk activity, and very common as well. But unfortunately, practices tend to vary widely from worker to worker and site to site.鈥� There is no accreditation body that ensures work is being done to manufacturer specifications or to a common standard.  

The researchers will convene an Alberta-based panel of experts in rigging and hoisting to develop a unified competency standard for training workers in the province, which eventually will pave the way for a national standard.  The companies involved in the fatality are invited, but not mandated, to take part in the research. As well as a competency standard for Alberta rigging and lifting, the project will create tools to support workers.

O鈥橬eill has met with Nelson鈥檚 family, some of whom also work in the oilsands. He says they are also invited to contribute 鈥渉owever they feel comfortable,鈥� to the research.

鈥淭hey understand the industry and they understand what it's like working in these environments and the risks that people take and how management makes decisions. So, they have a lot of expertise and knowledge to contribute. We hope to make some good out of this tragedy and do right by Brandon鈥檚 family and friends.鈥�