If you were looking for a poster boy for workplace safety, you wouldn’t go wrong choosing Fred Drury.

The 76-year-old Edmonton businessman’s story was recently posted on the Workers’ Compensation Board website (www.wcb.ab.ca).

The story’s a grabber. The first paragraph leads off with a pregnant machinist who has been injured on the job. Crumpled on the concrete floor, she shouts to her fellow employees: “Tell Mr. D. don’t take the numbers down, I’ll be back tomorrow.”

The woman was referring to a sign proclaiming that the company, Flexxaire Manufacturing, had gone 3,308 workdays without an employee losing a day’s work to injury. She didn’t want to be the person ending the streak. Unfortunately, she was.

But her loyalty to ‘Mr. D.’, Fred Drury, was remarkable, and it reflects company-wide sentiment. For Drury, it’s proof that making a serious commitment to workplace safety helps earn the respect and dedication of his greatest asset – his employees.

WCB photo
Fred Drury has committed himself to a safe workplace for his employees.

“I’m not a nut on this stuff,” Drury said in an interview with Business Edge. “But I run a clean shop. And I always seem to get the best people who can be found.

“The thing is, it’s terribly expensive to lose a good worker to injury. I don’t want them injured, they don’t want to be injured, and their families can’t afford to have them off work. It just makes sense to eliminate risks.”

Drury spent more than 40 years in the oil and gas industry before retiring at age 65. He is now the co-owner of Flexxaire Manufacturing. The company builds customized fans for heavy machinery that prevent the machines from overheating. Drury says the 35-employee, multi-million-dollar company is thriving.

On the WCB website, Drury offers a list of practical steps that have worked for him. One-third of his staff hold a St. John Ambulance certificate. Work is consolidated in production cells, which prevents employees from having to move around a lot. His machine shop area has no windows, and unsuitable images such as Sunshine Girls aren’t tolerated on plant walls.

On the latter issue, it’s just a matter of respect and preventing distractions. Instead of windows, he has installed a huge skylight in the plant that allows light to stream in.

According to the WCB, Drury isn’t the only employer who understands the impact of workplace safety. On its website, another story highlights a Partners in Injury Reduction program.

It’s a safety program that in 2002 refunded $37 million in WCB premiums to 5,550 Alberta employers. The program rewards companies that make a commitment to safety: sign on with the program, pass a safety audit and automatically receive a five-per-cent discount on WCB premiums.

The program has been around since 1990, but caught on in 2000 when it was revamped.

Besides the five-per-cent reduction, there’s potential for more rewards. Once enrolled in the program, the WCB monitors a company’s claims and claims costs compared to its previous record. If the company does well, it can receive discounts up to 20 per cent.

“We have clients who pay us (premiums) in the millions of dollars,” says James Wilson, WCB manager responsible for the program. “Employers could be looking at getting $200,000 back, maybe more. We had one employer last year who received over $1 million in refunds from us.”

The program is open to any employer, from the largest plants in Fort McMurray to the local barbershop in Drayton Valley.

Last year, the 5,550 employers enrolled in the program had 13 per cent fewer lost-time claims and 22 per cent lower claims costs than those not enrolled.

This year, 7,000 companies have joined. The province estimates there are 115,000 to 117,000 employers in Alberta, so there’s plenty of opportunity to build on the notion of improving workplace safety.

Wilson says that while there are initial costs for some companies to ensure they meet the minimum standards, large companies easily recoup the cost through the five-per-cent automatic discount. Some small employers also earn significant discounts, he says. Other employers, depending on the industry and risks they face, may look at the cost/benefit ratio and say it’s not worthwhile financially to enter the program.

But Wilson says every company should consider the option. He explains that the WCB is essentially a cost-recovery business. It figures out what it will have to pay in claims costs each year, adds in administration costs and then divvies up the bill for employers in the form of premiums.

Under the Partners in Injury Reduction program, employers basically sign off on a program that meets basic minimum safety standards.

It’s not necessary that they put an excellent program in place, but that they put a good, solid program in place, Wilson says. “If we had everybody at that level in the province, we’d be laughing.”

While the hook for companies is the financial discounts and refunds, employers who have long-term sustained results are the ones who realize it’s just the right way to do business.

“Taking care of your people, controlling risk, pays off in many ways,” Wilson says.

At Flexxaire Manufacturing, Fred Drury understands the notion better than most.

“Forget WCB charges,” Drury says. “I’ve got good employees and I simply can’t afford to have them off the job. The cost and time it takes to recruit and train can take months. Just do the math.”

While Drury talks about productivity, it’s clear compassion is equally important.

Twenty years ago he suffered serious injuries in a drilling rig accident. He also remembers attending the funeral of an employee who was killed in an accident in Alaska years ago because of the “stupid” actions of a co-worker.

“When you meet a man’s wife and children and know that they are now fatherless, that’s (heart)-wrenching.”

In Alberta, workplace deaths are far too common. Last year, 101 workers died on the job. In 2001, 118 workers died – about one fatality every third day.

It’s a sad statistic. Fred Drury calls it inexcusable.