Manufacturing Safety for Manitoba

SAFE Work Certified by Made Safe: Boeing shares their story

SAFE Work Certified by Made Safe: Boeing shares their story

Posted on March 7, 2018

As the manufacturing sector partner for SAFE Work Manitoba Certified, Made Safe works with members to assess their readiness, provide support and help companies achieve certification. The process is modelled on internationally-recognized best practices and has demonstrated positive outcomes for individual companies and the industry overall. Certified manufacturers have safer and healthier workplaces, better control of workplace hazards, fewer injuries and illnesses, more engaged and productive employees; as well as a significant rebate on their WCB premiums.

As the SAFE Work Certified by Made Safe process gains traction, we wanted to showcase just a few of the manufacturers leading the way. It’s our hope that telling their stories and sharing the lessons they learned during the certification process will help pave the path for other manufacturers moving forward.

 

BOEING CANADA

Boeing the first manufacturer in the 32002 rate code (aircraft manufacturing) to achieve certification. This is their story:

Boeing Canada Winnipeg is the largest aerospace composite manufacturer in Canada. It opened with 57 employees in 1971 in a $3.5 million plant at 99 Murray Park Road in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The company now employs nearly 1,500 people in approximately 800,000 square feet of space in two sites in the city. Boeing Canada is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Company.

 

Q: What should readers of this blog post know about your company vision and culture?  

A: At Boeing, our mission is to connect, protect, explore and inspire the world through aerospace innovation. Boeing aspires to be the best in aerospace and an enduring global industrial champion.

 

Q: We’ve found there are common concerns which manufacturers identify as barriers to overcome before they can make the commitment to pursue certification. What barriers did you need to address internally? And how did you overcome those hurdles?

A: Along with many manufacturers, we often find ourselves stretched to capacity and wondering if we’re simply too busy to take on another project (like certification) – despite the clear benefits. However, we understood that while certification would be a challenge to us and may compete with other priorities, as a Made Safe Council member and one of Manitoba’s employers of choice, it would improve our business.

 

Q: Did you learn any safety or business lessons throughout the process that might help others make the decision to become certified?

A: We knew that we had a strong safety management system, but the process did highlight some gaps that we needed to close on the process documentation side. Our advice would be to complete the gap assessment far enough ahead of the audit so you can truly react to any found gaps.

 

Q: What would you say is the biggest benefit of certification so far (or that you can see on the horizon)?

A: By committing to safety first, we advance our goals for quality, cost and schedule. The case for safety really is simply a case for good business. The SAFE Work certification process tests your safety management system and the gap assessment and audit are extensive. All elements are reviewed in depth, which drives improvement. The process also highlights what a company’s safety culture is and understanding that is key in driving towards a zero incident and injury environment. This dovetailed nicely with our commitments to LEAN, innovation and leadership.

 

Q: How has your membership with Made Safe helped your organization?

A: Through our membership with Made Safe, we have also gained a knowledge body that can help us with issues and provide us with training that adheres to high standards.

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