This program confirms our commitment to provide the safest as reasonably practicable work environment for all employees, visitors and contractors while working on any premises be it our own or those of a company we are working for. It creates the foundation on which the structures and systems for safety and health can be established and continually improved.

While we fully accept our responsibility to create a safe working environment, each and every one of us is required to give the most careful attention to how our work is conducted.  This is a requirement if we are to achieve our goal of ensuring the Safety and Health of all employees, visitors and contractors.

This document formally establishes our Stop Work Authority (SWA) policy and provides all employees to suspend individual tasks or group tasks when the control of risks is not clearly established or understood.

• All employees have the authority and obligation to stop work whenever they feel they have concerns in regards to the risk of those tasks.
• No work will resume until all issues or risks have been adequately controlled.
• When an employee stops work in line with this policy there will be absolutely no retribution directed towards the individual; or team.

Roles and Responsibilities

Employees:
Are responsible to initiate a stop work intervention when warranted, support the intervention of others and immediately report such a stop work to their immediate supervisor.

Supervisors:
Are responsible to create a culture where SWA is exercised freely, honour request for stop work and work to resolve any issues arising prior to operations returning to normal. The supervisor must ensure follow up and corrective actions are implemented and monitored.

Managers:
Establish clear expectations for all employees in regards to SWA. Create a culture where SWA is exercised freely, resolve any conflicts and enforce accountability for those not complying.

HSE:
Will support operations and are responsible for monitoring compliance with the requirements of the program, maintenance of associated documents, processes and training materials.

Protocols:
Our Stop Work Authority involves a stop, notify, correct and resume approach for the resolution of all perceived unsafe work actions or conditions.

1. When a person identifies a perceived unsafe condition, act, error, omission or lack of understanding that could result in an undesirable event, a stop work intervention shall be immediately initiated.
2. If a supervisor is readily available then a review of the situation must be undertaken. If a supervisor is not readily available then a SWA is initiated. Stop work interventions should be initiated in a positive manner. e.g: “I am using my stop work authority because...”. Using this phrase will ensure all involved parties understand what is occurring.
3. Any parties that may be affected by the SWA must be notified.
4.  
5. All parties shall discuss the SWA and gain agreement on the issue.
6. If it is decided the SWA was not warranted due to unknown circumstances then all parties associated should be thanked for their participation and work resumed.
7. If determined and agreed that the stop work issue is valid, then every attempt should be made to resolve the issue to all affected person’s satisfaction prior to the commencement of work.
8. If the work issue cannot be resolved immediately, work shall be suspended until proper resolution is achieved.  When opinions differ regarding the validity of the stop work issue or adequacy of the resolution actions, the location’s “person in charge” shall make the final determination.  Details regarding differences of opinion and resolution actions should be included in the documented report.
9. Positive feedback should be given to all affected employees regarding resolution of the stop work issue.  Under no circumstances should retribution be directed at any person(s) who exercise in good faith their stop work authority as detailed in this program.
10. All stop work interventions and associated detail shall be documented and reported as detailed in this program.

Reporting
All “Stop Work” interventions exercised under the authority of this program shall be documented as a near miss utilizing existing reporting protocols.  The near miss report shall contain the words “STOP WORK” at the beginning of the incident description in order to differentiate it from traditional near miss reports.

“STOP WORK” reports shall be reviewed by line supervision in order to:

• Measure participation.
• Determine quality of interventions and follow-up
• Trend common issues and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Facilitate sharing of learning.
• Feed recognition programs.

The HSE department will regularly publish incident details regarding the number of “STOP WORK” actions reported by location as well as details regarding common trends and learning.

Follow-up
It is the desired outcome of any “STOP WORK” that the identified safety concerns be addressed to the satisfaction of all involved persons prior to the resumption of work. Although all issues can be adequately resolved in a timely fashion at the job site, occasionally additional investigation and corrective actions may be required to identify and address root causes.

“STOP WORK” interventions that require additional investigation or follow up will be handled utilizing existing protocols and procedures for incident investigation and follow-up.

Recognition
In order to build and reinforce a culture in which SWA is freely exercised and accepted, line supervisor are encouraged to positively recognise employee and contractor participation in the program.

Minimally, each line supervisor should informally recognize individuals when exercising their authority to stop work or demonstrate constructive participation in a “STOP WORK” intervention. This informal recognition need to be no more than an expression of appreciation for a job well done or the awarding of a nominal item (hat, gloves, flashlight, gift certificate,  etc.) of recognition. Additionally, formal recognition of selected examples of “STOP WORK” interventions and those responsible should be made during regularly scheduled safety meetings.

The HSE department will regularly publish selected “STOP WORK” actions that occurred throughout the company, recognize those responsible for their support of the SWA program and contribution to HSE continuous improvement.

Training
Training regarding this SWA policy and program will be conducted as part of all new employee orientation.  Additionally, a review of the SWA policy shall be completed as part of all field location safety briefings and regularly in safety meetings.