Okay, so just to start off, right? So why are slips, trips and falls still among the most common workplace injuries in this sector?

That's a fantastic question.

So actually in 2022, the IHSA Surface Mining and Aggregate Sector Working Group made a decision to host a root cause workshop specifically on slips, trips and falls following a risk assessment that was done by Dr. Sujoy Day, who is the Corporate Risk Officer at the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training, Skills Development.

This workshop was led by members of the industry representing both workers and management over the course of two days.

The workshop indicated that there was 13 top causes increasing the likelihood of slips, trips and falls and surface mining.

The 13 identified causes were housekeeping issues, equipment-related hazards, surface conditions of work areas, a lack of risk assessment, especially for changes to work and new tasks, a lack of policies and procedures outlining safety expectations, weather conditions and changing environmental factors, a willingness to take unnecessary risks, complacency and not addressing hazards, outdated training programs, high production mindset, poor communication, defective ladders, and a reactive approach to addressing health and safety workplace issues.

So on an aggregate site, which area or areas of that site do you think deserve the most attention when it comes to preventing falls?

Obviously, high foot traffic areas need to be maintained at all times.

So not to interrupt you, but when you talk about not approaching a vehicle from that side because of the boom, do you think workers that are new to the sector, maybe never worked around equipment before, do you think they're getting told this really important information?

You know, that's a great question.

Unfortunately, I'd say often not.

People just assume that you should know better.

And of course, if you've never been around that equipment before, how could you? Something I always encouraged when I was on site with newer and or younger workers, if you've never sat in a machine before, It's always a good idea to just sit in it so you can gain perspective of what the operator can and can't see.

I'm not saying that you get to play with it.

They probably will take the keys out.

Now, is that something that, first time I hear of it, but maybe, is that something we could use on construction sites or is it being used and I just don't know?