Health & Safety
RDBK’s Preventive Approach to Health and Safety
At RDBK we are all about helping pets live healthier and longer lives. It is only natural for this preventive approach to transfer over into how we care for our team members in the workplace. RDBK has some of the toughest and most resilient employees who, day in and day out, give their best to produce the highest quality pet food for your valued family members. Our team members daily brave extreme temperatures in our freezers, and a cold, wet environment in our production room. We believe they deserve only the best when it comes to protecting their health and safety along with minimizing the risk of injury or illness at work. That is why we have partnered with the Manufacturing Safety Alliance of BC (MSABC) for the past few years.
Partnership with Manufacturing Safety Alliance of BC
This organization has supported us in our efforts to make continuous improvements to our Health and Safety Program and work culture. They are helping us not only to achieve WorkSafeBC’s standards, but to exceed them by following “best practices” in occupational safety, specific to the food manufacturing industry.
Our Journey – Continual Improvement, OSSE Certification
With guidance from an MSABC Safety Advisor, RDBK has made great strides in prioritizing safety in every job task. Our MSABC advisor has reviewed our health and safety system and conducted a comprehensive GAP Analysis to identify areas where we can improve in order to meet the highest level of standards, according to Occupational Safety Standards of Excellence (OSSE). We are proud to say that we have made excellent progress from the GAP Analysis conducted in 2017 to the GAP Analysis conducted in 2020.
Every month, our Joint Health and Safety Committee meets to ensure progress is made on the action items identified from our 2020 GAP Analysis, with the goal to be OSSE-audit-ready in 2021. This ongoing commitment to safety has led us to investing in a number of facility modifications, improving our safe work procedures and policies, training for our Joint Health and Safety Committee and other team members, and mechanizing some of the tasks that pose the highest risk for MSIs (musculoskeletal injuries).
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Because 2020 has also brought to light the huge role that Mental Health plays in employee health and wellness, at RDBK we have made it our goal to build and maintain a positive work environment where every team member feels valued and excited to come to work. In addition to encouraging office team members to bring their dogs (aka “therapy dogs” or “team greeters”) to work, this year we initiated company hikes and anonymous “Thank You” notes for team members to express their appreciation for each other. It is gratifying to be a part of a workplace where safety and appreciation are prioritized!
The management team is dedicating the remainder of 2020 and all of 2021 to cultivating a higher level of health and safety for our exceptional team members. We are committed to investing the resources, time, and energy required to achieve best practice standards as outlined by industry OSSE. We are also committed to the ongoing building and maintenance of a company culture of positivity and appreciation. These are just a couple of expressions of our core value of CARE, to ensure that every staff member has a great place to work and goes home at the end of the day healthy and safe.
Our Commitment
