Heath & Safety

Health & Safety

One of our core values at Ritchie Bros. is "We do what is right." And when it comes to the health and safety of our employees and customers, that's paramount in how we work. Not only do we strictly adhere to the highest safety standards, practices and regulations everywhere we operate around the world, we strive to go above and beyond them to help keep everyone safe everyday.

View the Ritchie Bros. Occupational Health and Safety Policy.

As part of our "Unreserved Commitment to Safety", our Environment, Health & Safety (EH&S) Department promotes and maintains safe environments and working conditions by:

  • Establishing and regularly updating a company-wide EH&S program
  • Encouraging, empowering and educating employees to be proactive about safety, and increasing their awareness of safety hazards
  • Ensuring that all Ritchie Bros. employees report any incidents and safety concerns to their managers
  • Ensuring that all reported incidents and safety concerns are investigated, and corrective actions are implemented in a timely manner
  • Maintaining the highest standards of safety and strictly adhering to local & regional safety laws
  • Constantly working to reduce incidents and/or injuries
  • Setting yearly targets for improving- safety performance
  • Regularly upgrading and updating EH&S training for all employees
  • Ensuring every workplace has a designated on-site safety representative and staff with certified first aid training
  • Identifying, assessing and controlling all safety hazards
  • Promoting a healthy work/life balance for all employees.

Ritchie Bros. Safety Award

The purpose of the Safety Award is to honour an auction site that has shown a strong dedication and commitment to health and safety.

  • 2017 Saskatoon won for Canada
  • 2017 Salt Lake City won for USA/LATAM
  • 2017 Madrid won for Europe/Asia

Auction Site Safety Rules

We are committed to providing, promoting and maintaining a safe and healthy environment for our employees, customers and guests. Please familiarize yourself with the Auction Site Safety Rules before you enter our auction site.

  1. This auction site is a dangerous place with moving equipment, flammable, corrosive, pressurized and other dangerous substances present.  Please use extreme caution as Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers is not responsible for any injuries sustained or damages to or loss of property occurring from any cause.
  2. Immediately report all incidents (i.e. injuries, spills, property damage and near misses) to the Yard Manager or any representative of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers.
  3. Do not operate or demonstrate equipment unless you are certain you are competent and qualified to do so. If you decide to operate or demonstrate equipment you do so at your own risk, and are responsible for any damage that occurs. Please ensure your surrounding area is clear prior to operating or demonstrating equipment and always maintain a lookout.
  4. Any person under the influence of alcohol, drugs or medication that impairs cognition is strictly prohibited from entering the auction site and operating or demonstrating equipment.
  5. We strongly recommend that children are not brought on-site. If you decide to bring a child on-site, they must be accompanied by a responsible adult and remain under adult supervision at all times. Anyone under the age of 18 is strictly prohibited from being on or in or operating any piece of equipment, machinery or vehicle.
  6. Prior to commencing with the performance of any services, contractors/service providers must operate in strict accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.

Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)

Environment

Environment

At Ritchie Bros., we believe it's our responsibility to do everything we can to reduce our impact on the environment – from the simple things like making sure we've got plenty of recycling bins boxes in our offices to more complex undertakings like designing and building facilities that use green building strategies.

As we grow and expand as a company, we're continually exploring different ways we can reduce our environmental impact, and refining procedures we already have in place. Here are just some of the things we currently do to reduce our environmental impact:

  • Implement recycling programs at all auction sites and administrative offices
  • Establish standard operating procedures for spill prevention and remediation
  • Ensure all paint and waste material from our refurbishing facilities is properly disposed of
  • Recycle blasting materials for our refurbishing operation
  • Use low-flow plumbing and motion-activated, energy-efficient lighting in our new buildings
  • Use energy efficient heating and cooling systems in our new buildings (at our facilities in Italy and Spain, solar panels were used.)
  • Ensure all company vehicles are properly maintained in order to reduce fuel consumption and emissions

Building with the environment in mind

Our global headquarters in Vancouver, Canada was purpose-built for our company and became LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certified in 2012. Beyond designing our headquarters to these high green building standards, we also follow other environmental initiatives on a daily basis, including the use of environmentally friendly cleaning products, reusable dishes instead of disposables, common print areas versus personal printers, and a building control system that powers down outside of key working hours.

In designing and operating our auction sites, the staff at Ritchie Bros. continue to research and explore environmentally friendly systems, materials and processes that will improve our impact on the environment while supporting the corporate strategy.

View the Ritchie Bros. Environmental Policy.

BBOT's Environmental Sustainability Committee