Health & Safety

We place a high priority on protecting the health and safety of our employees, contractors and the public in the communities in which we live and work. We actively participate in industry- recognized programs at the highest possible levels in an effort to support continuous improvement.

We utilize the Incident Command System (ICS) to form the basis for our emergency preparedness and response program. Emergency Response (ER) training, exercises and drills are conducted on a regular basis to ensure that our employees are prepared in the event of an emergency situation to ensure timely and effective response, and be in full compliance with Federal, Provincial and Municipal regulations, as well as industry codes of practice.

Safety Recognition

In September 2008, we were given the “Prevention Solutions that Work” award at the annual Canadian Society of Safety Engineering professional development conference held this year in Quebec City for their “Safety is a ….MOMENT OF CHOICE” campaign. Delegates of the conference chose the entry which they felt best resolves a health and safety challenge and they chose our entry!

We are pleased to announce that we have been awarded the Work Safe Alberta - 2007 Best Safety Performer Award which is granted annually by Alberta Employment and Immigration to those companies that demonstrate exceptional performance in workplace health and safety. We are proud of our employees' achievement and are pleased to be recognized as a leader in health and safety within the oil and gas industry. Please click here to view the award criteria.

We proudly participate in Safety Stand Down Week. This is a designated time each year for senior executives to visit frontline workers at their work sites and to talk to them directly and informally about safety issues. It is also an excellent opportunity for employers to carry the same message to their contractors and subcontractors.

Moment of Choice Campaign

This Enerplus initiative promotes and reinforces individual accountability of making the personal decision to work safely when conducting work for Enerplus. This campaign represents a philosophical shift and reinforces our belief that our employees should take a moment to reflect on what is most important in their lives, and to ensure that they have assessed all associated hazards and risks before conducting any task.

Environment

We are committed to meeting our responsibilities to protect the environment through a variety of programs and actively monitoring our compliance with all regulators. In particular, we engage in the following activities:

• We participate in the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers Stewardship Program at the highest level, platinum. Our participation requires a commitment to continuous improvement of our Health, safety and environmental ("HSE") management system including sound planning and implementation, open communication and demonstrated performance, and a thorough external audit of our activities at least once every five years;
• We have a site inspections program and a corrosion risk management program designed to ensure compliance with HSE laws and regulations. We carry insurance to cover a portion of our property losses, liability and business interruption. HSE updates and risks are reviewed regularly by the HSE committee comprised of members of the board of directors of Enerplus;
• We carry out our activities and operations in compliance with all relevant and applicable environmental regulations and good industry practice. At present, we believe that we meet all applicable environmental standards and regulations and have included appropriate amounts in our capital expenditure budget to continue to meet our ongoing environmental obligations.

Overall, we believe our Health, Safety and Environment initiatives confirm our ongoing commitment to environmental stewardship and the health and safety of our employees, contractors and the general public in the communities in which we operate. Health, safety and environmental risks impact our workforce, operating costs and the establishment of regulatory standards. Enerplus has established an HSE Management System to coordinate these efforts.

For further information on 2007 Health, Safety and Environment activities please refer to the Health, Safety and Environment section of our Annual Information Form or contact:

Ben Coates
Manager, HSE
Office: 403-298-2229