Jennifer Byram
Jennifer Byram was administrative vice president of Pelly Construction in 2009. Her father, Keith Byram, started Pelly Construction in 1987 and she saw plenty of industrial accidents as a girl. She started out as a dish washer, then worked as a packer operator, a crusher operator, and a first aid attendant. She helped to overhaul the safety procedures for the company around 1990 after which Pelly Construction aimed for zero accidents. Pelly received the contract for all heavy-duty work at Capstone Mining’s Minto Mine near Pelly Crossing. In 2008 there was not one shift lost to an injured worker at the territories largest mine.1)
Jennifer met with the Yukon’s Contractor’s Association in 2000 to initiate the Northern Safety Network. After meetings with the Yukon Worker’s Compensation Health and Safety Board, the territory-wide safety network was put in place in 2001. When Minto Mine began initial pre-drilling construction in 2005, Pelly had a safety plan. Pelly was contracted to build the roads to the mine, flatten the land slated for construction, and do the major excavations. The construction crews had tail-gate meetings after every shift to discuss safety between workers and management. Both companies set up an emergency response team of workers from both companies that practiced rescues once a month. A safety committee of managers and workers met once a month to review policy and procedures. The formula was bottom up and when the mechanics said they needed a $40,000 Genie lift to repair the machines they got it. Every employee got a drug test before starting employment and if there was a metal-on-metal accident on the site then all involved got drug tested.2)
The company had sixty workers at Minto and more than 100 in Chetwynd, British Columbia. That mine went at least three years without an injury. The success at Minto was due to the cooperation between Pelly and Minto Explorations. Minto was very strict and not wearing your seatbelt was cause for job termination. Kevin Weston was vice-resident of operations Canada for Capstone Mining. Every worker went through mine safety before being allowed on the site. The company focused on lock-out, hot work, fall protection, confined spaces, and hazardous materials. Hot work proved to be the biggest hazard in all major industries.3)