He may be a Harley Davidson Fat Boy-riding dude, but Peter Hollett never lets his style interfere with safety.

Hollett is this year’s recipient of the COS Safety Leader of the Year Award. As safety manager for Calgary-based Exterran Canada, maker of gas compression and total solutions for the oil and gas industry, Hollett oversees the OHS program for the firm’s manufacturing group.

Hollett has been with Exterran for the last four years, but his work in the occupational health and safety field spans over two decades, starting out as a safety committee member at a steel company in Calgary in 1981. Hollett still recalls his first involvement in safety. “My boss asked me if I would get involved because…I was in the yard in a crane and they needed some representation for the first-aid group.”

A journeyman crane operator then, Hollett saw everything that went on in the yard from his glass box. “That was really a motivating factor,” he says. “I’ve seen a lot of injuries up from the crane…that I thought I should become involved in the solution to try to make workplaces safer.”

When the steel company he was working for closed in 1994, Hollett decided to expand his safety training. Four years later, he received his occupational health and safety certificate from the University of Alberta, marking the start of a fulfilling career as a safety professional.

From underground
Colleagues attest to Hollett’s successful role in positively transforming the safety culture at Exterran, as shown by the number of nominations COS received on his behalf. Hollett does not see himself as a management figure, but rather a change agent who facilitates the creation of a safe and open workplace.

The journey towards that goal, however, has not been easy. From day one at Exterran, Hollett knew the company needed an overhaul of its safety culture, which was then driven “underground” as employees were generally afraid to speak up about their safety for fear of repercussion.

“One of the things that was made clear to me was that one of my jobs as a change agent was to bring safety up on the table — above board,” he says.

Getting employees to trust the newcomer wasn’t easy and Hollett understood why the workers were hesitant — the previous management focused too much on punishment and discipline, creating an atmosphere of fear rather than honest and open communications.

“It really took a lot of hard effort and work to get them to trust somebody when it comes to safety…so I had to build a whole new level of trust and bring that safety program out from underground,” says Hollett.

It took Hollett a few months to get employees to finally start opening up and talking about safety issues. Hollett says the key to gaining their trust is communication.

“During safety meetings I communicated to them that...I am a change agent and I’m going to change management and I am going to change the workforce. I made it clear to them that my goal was to work for them and for them to have success.”

(Next: Celebrating successes)
 

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