Are we good or just lucky?
Dear Management,
Each round of layoffs takes years of experience out of the knowledge base. Not everything is in a manual or document.
Please keep safety of the workers, customers and the environment first priority before more lay offs and hiring more contractors.
The direction that the safety department has gone in is a disgrace. We dropped nearly everything that was returning value, both culturally and commercially. Last 5 years set us back 10.
Talent retention needs work.
A lot of the best safety people we had left 4-5 years ago. The guys in Canada and a couple here. It’s a shame.
The cost to Enbridge for spills is less measured in remediation dollars, and more so in the license to operate. You might be able to cover the cost... but then when you go to negotiate for permission to build - or even the permission to continue to operate - that's when you pay the cost. At a very minor risk of doxing myself, I was absolutely around during the fun in Michigan. Matter of fact, I spent a couple of weeks there. I was also knee-deep in the next several years of activities relating to it. We paid a much greater cost than the simple dollars to fix.
As to the current safety culture, yeah, the foot was taken off the gas pedal. But it had to be. The overcorrection to 2015 was unsustainable... the company had to figure out where the sustainable lines could be drawn. So here we are.
It's worth noting that (outside of NG) in 2023 I think something like 100 barrels were spilled. That's such a low number that it doesn't even register in 6 9's of safety. So if you're going to talk about events in the "pipeline incidents" category, you're kind of waving your hand and saying, "Just you wait and see!" because the data doesn't suggest it's manifesting.
Enbridge is a huge company, they can afford spills. The Marshall spill only costs them $1.2B so no biggie.
What ever happened to the foundational stories?
We don't even give them lip service anymore.
Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it!
Safety is just a word here. A word for executives and directors to through around to act like they care of it as #1.
Things have spiralled and contractors doing work who are poorly trained. A large loss of experienced workers lost over the recent years. New employees who have little to no training for their front line job.
The day will come when the next big incident will occur. Just pray no one is hurt.
#1 is money and profits.
Do not kid yourself.
Take care of yourself I learned that over 5 years ago.
gov't needs to go... new pipelines will invigorate this sector
I don’t think they care about anything other than money
The company still doesn’t know how to do the simple fundamentals of safety. Safety Dept is just an incubator for executives passing through.
I have kept some shares due to dividend payout, (cheese in the trap)
but sold the majority - just to risky to keep to many shares with what,s going on today and the limited workforce experience
Agreed. Safety has taken a back seat to alot of other things in the last 4 or 5 years. Big change from 10 years ago. They dont seem to care as much anymore.
I can tell you with certainty that the days of Stand Up For Safety, are long gone.
We are sending contractors back to premises over and over again for the same issues. It's just a matter of time.
Remember that Enbridge’s management style does not value individual performance as much a more decentralized management style would. In Enbridge employees are seen as a commodity and by design replaceable. Contrast Enbridge with companies that have decentralized management structures and individual employee contribution is valued much more. There are pros and cons to both systems, but the reason Enbridge employees are seen as replaceable is largely due to the style of management in place.
You know... we hear that a lot. "Some people are irreplaceable". But that pretty much never turns out to be true. Key people that thought themselves single points of failure leave companies all the time, and the company seldom if ever goes under as a result.
The organization flexes to deal with the gap. Sometimes it's all hands on deck... sometimes the person just wasn't quite as mission critical as they thought. But after a certain amount of time, it's business as usual.
People are replaceable. All of them. It's just a matter of some short term discomfort.
Totally agree. Not all resources are fungible. You can’t let go of everybody and replace that knowledge with a computer program or a document, our process documents su-k anyway. And you can’t replace a thirty year employee with a new kid straight out of college. The new person may be a LOT cheaper but they’ve got no knowledge or background to work with. One day this will all catch up to enbridge…if it hasn’t already.