Beginnings
February 4, 2014 3:02 pm Leave your thoughts
Firstly, I would like to thank the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) and Slave Lake Pulp (SLP) for this wonderful opportunity. The managers at SLP were very welcoming and assisted me in every way possible with my move to Slave Lake.
A bit about myself:
My name’s Navjot and I’m from Surrey B.C., about a one hour drive southeast from Vancouver. I’m in my third year of UBC’s Chemical Engineering program.
I would like to share a story with you from when I was in high school and I got a job at a local Wendy’s. It was my first day on the job, and I had never stood in one spot for so long. I was starting to feel quite tired. I mentioned it to my manager and asked if I could have a short break. She said my shift did not allow for a break and I could do something different instead – work at the deep fryer. Deep fryers are extremely hot and they emit a lot of heat, so as I was standing in front of it I feel a bit light headed and in a few minutes I collapsed on the floor. I was extremely lucky that day to have not fallen in the fryer. That incident had a significant effect on me towards any sort of hazardous workplace.
Me (second from left) with co-op students from the University of Alberta
I’ve been working at SLP for a week now and I have to say it has been an amazing new experience. What really stood out to me was their dedication to safety. During my first week, every day we would talk about everyone’s right to a safe workplace, the controls in place to keep workers safe, and about workers’ right to refuse unsafe work – that if you ever feel uncomfortable with doing a job, whether it is because you feel that it is risky or that you are unaware of the hazards that are present being a new worker, you always have the right to refuse. Their dedication to their policies and constant improvement of these policies was very reassuring to me, and I had never worked in a place that was this caring. I look forward to my eight months at SLP as I will be working on an amazing project.
Look out for my next blog post on the massive Biomethanation Project that is underway at SLP and will be the first of its kind!