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09 The focus on safety extends into the realm of personal health, so employees wear pedometers through a company-sponsored activity called Boeing on the Move. The corporation recognized the high participation level at Boeing Winnipeg and granted them $15,000 for a charitable donation pledge. The employees voted and chose the Children's Hospital as the worthy recipient. Boeing Winnipeg also encourages health and safety through an injury prevention program called Industrial Athlete, which is operating out of a new site within the company. "We want to keep our employees healthy not only at work but at home," says Tom Kelso, senior manager of Environment, Health and Safety. To achieve those goals, the company relies on the skills of Brittany Woitowicz, a certified exercise physiologist, and Amanda McDonald, a certified athletic therapist. The duo works together to deliver the three components of the Industrial Athlete program: stretching, symptom intervention and job conditioning. Woitowicz leads daily stretching for about 15 to 20 minutes before each shift for any interested employees. If an employee is experiencing symptoms related to a musculoskeletal problem, they can count on McDonald to provide them with advice, stretches or rehabilitation exercises. Job conditioning, which was added last year, is an eight-week program offered twice per week during work time. For participating employees, Woitowicz and McDonald put them through work-specific exercises to help reduce their risk for injuries. Participation is voluntary in all facets of the Industrial Athlete program, and the results are remarkable. "In Winnipeg, we've been able to lower blood pressure and improve heart rate. We also put employees through an injury risk assessment prior to the job conditioning. Upon completion of the program, the results have shown that we've been able to lower employees' injury risk level. We've also seen improvement with employees' flexibility and strength," McDonald says. The success of safety initiatives is clear to see, since the Winnipeg location won the company's prestigious Chairman Safety Award, rising above Boeing's 28 other manufacturing business units. "Boeing Canada Winnipeg won this award due to improvements in our safety culture, near-miss reporting and recordable injury reduction," says manufacturing director Marty Lehman. "Our recordable rate, which is the number of employees injured per 100 employees, went down by 28 per cent." One of the reasons these injury rates went down is because Boeing Winnipeg teaches its employees how to recognize and mitigate hazards. The company also encourages conversations about anything that might be distracting them from work. As well, trained staff members stress the importance of speaking up about situations that could impact safety. The reporting of near misses, which are events that haven't caused an injury but could cause an injury, went up by 112 per cent over the past two years. "That really impacts preventing the injury before it happens," Lehman says. "We're so proud of the way everyone is working together to make our workplace safer. We're reducing workplace risks for employees and recognizing hazards before injuries occur as well." Boeing Winnipeg continues to reach new heights in safety standards. ❚ BOEING PROMOTES SKY-HIGH SAFETY STANDARDS By Jennifer McFee The sky's the limit for Boeing Winnipeg, which boasts an impressive safety record that soars above the rest. BOEING WINNIPEG STAFF GET ACTIVE IN THE NEW INDUSTRIAL ATHLETE ROOM. PHOTO BY DARCY FINLEY H eadquartered in Chicago, the Boeing Company celebrated its 100th anniversary this year. At the same time, Boeing Canada celebrated 45 years north of the border. Throughout this time, the Winnipeg location, which is the largest composite manufacturer in Canada, has grown exponentially from about 50 people up to a 1,500-person organization. General manager Kim Westenskow is proud of Boeing's diverse workforce in Winnipeg, which includes a large representation of women, visible minorities, Aboriginal staff members and people with disabilities, reflecting the community in which we live. For the company's 10 deaf staff members, Boeing provides interpreters and Blackberries for communication, and coworkers have also learned American Sign Language. "We're very proud that we've built an environment where we can accommodate people with needs," Westenskow says. Another strength is the company's partnership with the Unifor union, which represents about 900 employees. "We do everything we can to make sure people know they can come to work each day and take care of their families at home," she says. The company is also actively involved in volunteerism and fundraising. This year, Winnipeg employees raised $171,000 for the United Way, more than doubling employee participation, and they also support many other local organizations. For the company's 10 deaf staff members, Boeing provides interpreters and Blackberries for communication, and coworkers have also learned American Sign Language.

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