Health & Safety
We place a high priority on protecting the health and safety of our employees, contractors
and the public in the communities in which we live and work. We consult with stakeholders on health and safety issues and actively participate in industry-
recognized programs at the highest possible levels in an effort to support continuous
improvement.
We participate in the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers ("CAPP") Stewardship Program at the platinum level. Our participation requires a commitment to continuous improvement of our health and safety management system including sound planning and implementation, open communication and demonstrated performance. We regularly audit and inspect our operations as part of our continous improvement to provide safe work practices.
We utilize the Incident Command System (ICS) to form the basis for our emergency preparedness and response program. Emergency Response (ER) training, exercises and drills are conducted on a regular basis to ensure that our employees are prepared in the event of an emergency situation to ensure timely and effective response, and be in full compliance with Federal, Provincial and Municipal regulations, as well as industry codes of practice. We provide the resources, training and technology to meet our health and safety objectives.
Safety Recognition
We recognize individual and group achievements in health and safety performance. In September 2008, we were given the “Prevention Solutions that Work” award at the annual
Canadian Society of Safety Engineering professional development conference held this year in
Quebec City for their “Safety is a ….MOMENT OF CHOICE” campaign. Delegates of the
conference chose the entry which they felt best resolves a health and safety challenge and they
chose our entry!
We are pleased to announce that we have been awarded the Work Safe
Alberta - 2007 Best Safety Performer Award which is granted annually by Alberta Employment
and Immigration to those companies that demonstrate exceptional performance in workplace
health and safety. This includes the commitment to strive to ensure no harm to employees, contractors or the public. We are proud of our employees' achievement and are pleased to be
recognized as a leader in health and safety within the oil and gas industry. Please click here to
view the award criteria.
We proudly participate in Safety Stand Down Week. This is a designated
time each year for senior executives to visit frontline workers at their work sites and to talk to them
directly and informally about safety issues. It is also an excellent opportunity for employers to
carry the same message to their contractors and subcontractors.
Moment of Choice Campaign
This Enerplus initiative promotes and reinforces individual accountability of making the personal
decision to work safely when conducting work for Enerplus. This campaign represents a
philosophical shift and reinforces our belief that our employees should take a moment to
reflect on what is most important in their lives, and to ensure that they have assessed all
associated hazards and risks before conducting any task.
For further information on our Health and Safety activities please refer to the Health, Safety and Environment section of our Annual Information Form.
Environment
We are committed to meeting our responsibilities to protect the environment through a variety
of programs and actively monitoring our compliance with all regulators. We consider the actions we take in the context of their economic, environmental and social effects. Engaging with our stakeholders on issues related to the environment allows for open communication and is important to how we operate.
We carry out our activities and operations in compliance with all relevant and applicable
environmental regulations and good industry practice. An example of this is our on-going ability to operate and report within the Stewardship Framework embraced by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers ("CAPP") and maintaining a comprehensive management system. We also regularly audit our operations for internal process and regulatory compliance. We have a site inspections program and a corrosion risk management program designed to ensure compliance with HSE laws and regulations. We carry insurance to cover a portion of our property losses, liability and business interruption. HSE updates and risks are reviewed regularly by the HSE committee comprised of members of the board of directors of Enerplus.
At present, we believe that
we meet all applicable environmental standards and regulations and have included
appropriate amounts in our capital expenditure budget to continue to meet our ongoing
environmental obligations. By safeguarding the environment through spill prevention, mitigation of gas flaring and venting, and being prepared to provide a timely and effective response to unexpected releases of environmental contaminents, we are demonstrating our commitment to developing our resources in a thoughtful, sustainable manner.
Environmental initiatives that include working to reduce waste, improving the efficiency of fresh water use, and reclaiming disrupted landscapes to equivalent land capacity confirms our ongoing
commitment to environmental stewardship in the communities in which we operate. Environmental risks impact our workforce, operating costs and the establishment of
regulatory standards. We are continously working to improve the efficiency of our energy consumption, reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions intensity and providing resources, training and technology to meet our environmental objectives.
Through careful planning today, we can preserve our landscape for future generations.
For further information on our environment activities please refer to the
Health, Safety and Environment section of our Annual Information Form.
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