We examine and discuss important topics and developments in health and safety to share our insight and experience with you!
As Alberta contractors grow, informal safety practices often stop being enough. This article explores the challenge of introducing a structured safety program while maintaining trust with experienced crews and protecting the business under Alberta OHS requirements.
As Alberta contracting businesses grow, safety expectations grow with them. This article reflects on the moment many owners experience — realizing that workplace safety is not just about careful crews, but about aligning operations with Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety Act, Regulation, and Code. If your company has expanded into multiple crews, job sites, or supervisory roles, it may be time to examine whether your safety system has grown with your business.
As Alberta companies grow, informal safety practices often begin to create operational strain. This article explores why safety can feel like friction, how governance and accountability structures influence behaviour, and what growing employers can do to align safety systems with operational performance before inspection pressure escalates.
COR provides a strong foundation, but inspections test consistency under real-world conditions. Learn how Alberta business owners can strengthen oversight and ensure their COR holds up as operations grow.
A fatal collision on Anthony Henday is a reminder that driving for work remains one of the most underestimated workplace hazards. Here’s how Alberta OHS typically interprets employer responsibility for driving-related risk — and what gaps business owners should address before something goes wrong.
We didn’t have an injury. Nothing felt urgent. Then the OHS order arrived. This story isn’t about unsafe work — it’s about what gets exposed when your safety system is examined and clarity matters more than you expect.
As a Safety Advisor, most of the safety problems I see don’t start with negligence. They start with reasonable assumptions — the kind that make sense day to day — until the business is forced to test them under pressure.
When I heard about the Hong Kong fire, where ignored safety rules and poor oversight led to tragedy, it made me stop and think about my own situation. I’d already been feeling overwhelmed trying to put together a safety program, especially after realizing how unprepared we were for our upcoming COR audit. Then I remembered the story my friend told me about working for a company that treated safety like an afterthought—right up until it cost them their contract after a fatal incident. Seeing the Hong Kong fire in the news was the final push. It was a reminder that when safety gets ignored, whether it’s a massive building overseas or a small business here at home, the consequences are real. That’s when I knew I needed proper support, not just a checklist, to make sure my business never ended up in the same situation.
Many new Alberta business owners don’t realize what safety documentation, hazard assessments, training records, and supervisor responsibilities they legally need until a commercial client asks for COR. In this short first-person story, I explain how a friend’s landscaping company lost a major contract because their safety program wasn’t ready — and how that became an eye-opener for my own construction business. If you want to grow, bid on larger work, and stay compliant with OHS without surprises, this guide shows what you need before you need it.
Preparing for a COR Audit can be stressful, especially an External COR Audit. Proactive planning can alleviate a lot of that stress when you take some steps in advance to help ensure a smooth audit. At Safety Ahead, we have had lots of experience over the years in assisting companies with both Internal and External COR Audits, so we understand how important it is to be well-prepared. We also know how easy it is to overlook small details during the planning stages. To help you stay on track and organized and avoid common mistakes like missing documentation and a lack of staff involvement - we have developed a list of effective tips to help you ensure that your company’s Audit is a successful one!