Syncrude Canada : employees continue to inspire each other to make safety personal

Sometimes a simple gesture can have a big impact. For Angela Yarkie, her safety inspiration came from seeing fellow employee Mike Caldwell write the names of his family members on his work gloves as a personal reminder to work safe.

Angela is Syncrude's Manager of Bitumen Processing Maintenance, and recently shared her story with Syncrude's 4,700 employees.

As part of her message, Angela invited employees to email her with any feedback. What she didn't expect was the number of responses. Employees from across site promptly reached out to explain how inspired they were by her words and actions.

'I was blown away by the positive feedback and responses. I wrote back to each person thanking them for taking the time to reach out. I want to drive home that it's the simplest of things that can motivate our need to work safe.'

If there's one overriding question Angela wants employees to ask themselves every day, it's: How will I personalize my safety?

'Syncrude has all kinds of safety triggers across our sites but what can make that key difference is how we make them personal,' says Angela. 'And when you do that, when something really great comes out of it like not getting hurt, you need to spread the word. You're doing this for your families at work and families at home. That's something Syncrude stands behind you on 100 per cent.'