The nomination of Suncor's Baseplant contract mining division, led by Contracts Manager Shannon Walsh, for the prestigious John T. Ryan award highlights two consecutive years of significant improvement in mining vendor safety performance. This achievement is marked by an impressive 1.84 million exposure hours with zero lost time, zero modified duty, and zero reportable injuries. Key contributors to this success include Suncor’s Heavy & Light Civil teams, blasting teams, and major vendors such as MNALP, TBCL, CRC Morgan, Centerfire, HME, Casper, and Maxam Blasting. 

The department executes high-risk tasks, including tailings pond decommissioning, haul road construction, overburden haulage, and seasonal reclamation.  The work completed by our Suncor and contract members demands disciplined safety practices across workers, front-line leaders, and management. The adoption of Human and Organizational Performance (HOP) principles, along with the growth of the Critical Control Assurance (CCA) program, has been pivotal in fostering a safety-focused culture. Additionally, our focus on contractor scheduling has helped maintain steady workforce levels, minimizing turnover while ensuring the right balance of experienced and competent workers. This proactive safety leadership is viewed as a crucial step forward, particularly after Suncor has experienced some history of high-risk incidents in contract mining. The John T. Ryan award nomination is a testament to the division's commitment to our multi-year safety journey in its 2024 results.