Yellowknife (Sep 22/04) - Winning a safety award required studying manuals and writing quizzes at Matco.

The transportation company won a Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) award, which was presented last week.

Matco received the honour because of its training in workplace hazardous materials, in the transportation and movement of dangerous goods, and because the company promoted safety on the playground, said Dave Clark, WCB president.

Clark said the awards were divided into three categories, depending on the number of employees in both Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.

Matco's award came in the 21 to 50 employees category. Other winners were Nohja Construction from Fort Smith in the one to 20 employees category and RWED in the over 50 employees category.

"What stood out was Matco's attempts to take safety out of the policy manual and onto the shop floor," said Clark.

"A couple of years ago we developed a safety team and we led and monitored each branch to ensure they embraced the safety issues," said Matco owner Ray Anderson. "WCB saw this as evidence of a proactive approach."

As a result of the initiative, workplace accidents within the company have gone down, he said.

"Our motto is safety is no accident," Anderson said.

When people get injured on the job, companies bear administrative and employee replacement costs.

Some jurisdictions, such as Alberta, have a rebate program on WCB rates for companies that beat the averages for accidents on the job. The NWT does not.

"A rebate would be an incentive, but the primary emphasis is that we want to be seen as a safe operation," said Anderson.