Erected in 1976, it is commended in the Guinness Book of World Records as the tallest building and freestanding structure in the world. It is a building twice the height of the Eiffel tower and three times as tall as the Seattle Space Needle. It shares ranks as a Wonder of the Modern World with structures like the Golden Gate Bridge, the British Chunnel (the Eurotunnel), and the Panama Canal, and attracts nearly 200 million tourists each year.

CN Tower is the talk of Ontario, and yet for its year-round crew of 300 employees, safety is paramount.

A Class Act
This past November, CN Tower took home first place honors for Best Safety Awareness Program at the IAAPA 2002 Spirit of Excellence Awards. Its safety program, which management fused into a three-day new employee orientation held every April, incorporates PowerPoint, visual images, and music to engage its employees in learning about the structure and appropriate safety precautions.

The program occupies one day out of every orientation and is divided into multiple 20- to 25-person sessions. Tower managers and supervisors talk face-to-face with their future employees about building security, fire safety, evacuation routes, the company’s crisis plan, and how to handle suspicious packages, bomb threats, and workplace hazardous materials. Staying in-house and staging one-on-one interactions between future workers and current management has consistently proven effective in delivering the company’s message of safety, says Nick Migliore, executive director of operations at the Tower.

The program illustrates employee duties that are often taken for granted, like how to appropriately use a fire extinguisher, recognize hazard symbols, and identify different fire alarm tones in the event of an evacuation. The PowerPoint presentation bullets simple instructions for virtually any potential mishap and offers large illustrations and exciting photographs, such as of the illuminated Tower antenna mast being struck by lightning, to keep employees stimulated while simultaneously emphasizing safety in all aspects of the building’s operations.

Additionally, future employees are quizzed on what they have learned over the three-day crash course, and practice fire and evacuation drills are conducted to provide the employees with hands-on experience in carrying out their duties in a timely fashion.

Security Measures
Demonstrated through images and video during the presentation is the Tower’s willingness to initiate advanced technology by highlighting its state-of-the-art enhanced security bomb detection equipment, Barringer Detection Portals. The portals are placed at the main entrance and manned by Tower security personnel to keep tabs on every visitor to enter the building.

According to the Barringer web site, the portals use digital photography and IONSCAN technology to noninvasively scan guests for trace amounts of up to 40 different explosives and drugs in a matter of seconds, and are most frequently installed in airports, rail stations, and government buildings. The portals’ technology involves using air to dislodge and analyze particles and vapors that are on guests’ bodies and clothing. The results of each analysis are posted for Tower attendants to easily view, and the portals boast a high throughput so as not to delay entry and cause clogged lines at the facility entrance.

According to Migliore, the structure’s management is constantly investing in new technology. “The tower is always upgrading itself,” he says. “It’s always investing in infrastructures to have the best systems that technology can afford and that exist on the planet. It’s just reinforcing the message that we’re all about safety and great customer satisfaction.”

Wealth of Knowledge
In the past 26 years, CN Tower has juggled tourist appeal and an increasingly high profile while maintaining safety and keeping its 300 full-time and 200 seasonal employees knowledgeable and aware. “Basically, all our staff gets put through that safety awareness program,” says Migliore. “The Tower prides itself on being one of the safest facilities on the planet. There’s always been a program, and it’s always been a front and center aspect.”

The program is in-depth, but additional department briefings are left to individual supervisors. Migliore notes that many long-time members of the staff have worked at the Tower since it was built, so orientation and the safety awareness program are conducted by the most knowledgeable people at the facility.

“I think for a high-profile facility, whether you’re an amusement park or a structure, you have to have a great [safety] program,” he says. “I think what distinguishes our program is that our people lead it. We use PowerPoint and multimedia, and we do it in a very energetic way.”