Courageous Safety Leadership (CSL): Creating a Culture of Safety at Teck

Messages and signs throughout our operations remind employees of key concepts taught in Courageous Safety Leadership, such as the sign on this truck, reminding all employees and contractors that they share in the responsibility for their own safety and that of their co-workers.

At Teck safety is more than a priority; it is an unchanging value and an inherent part of who we are. We strive to be a company where “Everyone Goes Home Safe and Healthy Every Day.” CSL is a safety philosophy which challenges existing values, beliefs and attitudes towards safety and outlines the changes required to instill a true culture of safety. CSL requires personal leadership and emotional connections to drive the change. From our first safety and health conference in 2005, to benchmarking best practices across other companies in 2008, to launching and implementing a company-wide CSL Program in 2009, imbedding safety in our culture has been a progressive journey.

The company-wide launch of our CSL Program is a pivotal point in this safety journey. In 2008 we gathered a group of six people to learn from best practices , meet some of the safest mining companies in the world and determine the keys to their success. Recommendations were then presented to our Senior Executives and Board of Directors and there was strong enthusiasm to move forward with a CSL program. We identified key leaders to develop the CSL program and further refine our safety strategy and vision.

In 2009 many of our Senior Executives and General Managers experienced the full one day CSL, designed to identify where we are in our safety performance and where we could be. Participants explored themes such as the “ripple effect”, highlighting how injuries affect many more people than those who are hurt. Benchmarking against leading companies demonstrated that it is possible for us to be safer. The importance of courageous personal leadership in ensuring that safety is a responsibility for each individual was also explored. After experiencing CSL firsthand, there was enthusiasm to move forward with implementing CSL at each operation at Teck. Our commitment to this massive safety initiative during uncertain economic times is a testament to the value we put in safety at Teck.

Now over 10,000 Teck employees and contractors have experienced Phase 1 of the CSL journey – the one day training session. But CSL is an on-going process instilling a state of mind where we all know that we play an essential part in ensuring that Everyone Goes Home Safe and Healthy Every Day. Phase 2 of the journey is currently being implemented and revisits the CSL topics through monthly communications with all our operations and offices, presented in team meetings. We harness the power of storytelling, gathering and sharing stories from around the company of how CSL has impacted each person, both at work and at home. What began as a vision for being safer has turned into a process which has changed the very culture of our organization, influencing the mindset and heart of each employee as they consider what courageous safety leadership means to them. We see a future for Teck where we never have a fatality and everyone goes home safe and healthy every day.