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Construction leaders tackle critical risks across shared work sites at ACSA 2026 Conference. GlobeNewswire Published Oct 14, 2026 Ledcor, Bird, Graham and Dow and other industry experts present on serious injury prevention, incident learning and coordination across employers this October. Edmonton, Oct. 14, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - Industry leaders from Ledcor, Bird, Graham and Dow will share how their organizations manage critical risks and prevent serious injuries at the Alberta Construction Safety Association (ACSA) 2026 Conference, Oct. 28-29 at the JW Marriott ICE District in Edmonton. BuildForce Canada projects construction growth and retirements will require 48,800 workers to be added to Alberta's construction labour force by 2035, including 43,700 workers expected to retire. The workforce outlook adds urgency to a longstanding construction challenge: coordinating work when owners, prime contractors, contractors and trades share hazards, schedules and responsibilities. Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. "Construction companies invest significant time and resources in protecting workers within their operations. On shared work sites, however, worker safety depends just as much on how effectively companies communicate with each other," said ACSA CEO Mark Hoosein. "This conference brings owners, contractors, trades and safety leaders together to examine what works in practice - where expectations need to align, where flexibility still matters and how lessons can travel from one project to another." Top Stories Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. "Our member companies know safety on site is a shared effort. That's why OpenCircle supports a conference that brings the industry together to strengthen that collaboration," said OpenCircle President Ross J. Undershute. Keynote speaker Keynote speaker Lisa Nakamura opens the conference Oct. 28 with "Building Common Language on a Construction Site for Worker Safety." Drawing on 40 years of helping construction and heavy manufacturing organizations develop leaders and improve performance, she will examine how a common safety language can strengthen leadership and communication when crews from different companies work side by side. Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Featured breakout sessions Hosted largely by industry, interactive breakout sessions give attendees a look at how companies manage safety on their own sites through practical application and real-world case studies. Featured sessions include: * Critical risks: Larry Jones of Ledcor Group of Companies and Peter Lineen of Bird Construction Ltd. will examine how organizations are applying the Canadian Construction Safety Council's Critical Risks Guideline, which identifies 13 high-risk activities, including implementation challenges, lessons learned and outcomes. * Serious injury prevention: Nancy Chadwick and Mike Court of Graham will host a session on the company's Energy-Based Safety approach to preventing serious injuries and fatalities, including what they are learning through field implementation. * Incident investigations: Shane Farrah of Dow will draw on real-world examples to share how incident investigations can support organizational learning and improve safety and business performance. Industry partner Alberta Occupational Health and Safety will lead a debrief of a serious arc flash incident. Opening Minds, a division of the Mental Health Commission of Canada, will host an interactive workshop on psychological health and safety in construction. This advertisement has not loaded yet. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Also, on the program * ACSA Partners Panel on how owners, contractors, trade partners and safety leaders align expectations across shared work sites without adding unnecessary complexity * Safety Spotlight talks on research, technology and educational approaches from the University of Alberta and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology * One-on-one consultations with ACSA's Certificate of Recognition (COR)(TM) and Small Employer Certificate of Recognition (SECOR)(TM) team for anyone working out next steps in managing workplace health and safety * ACSA Safety Excellence Awards Dinner (separately ticketed) on the evening of Oct. 28, recognizing individuals and companies pursuing continuous improvement toward safety and business excellence "Every year, this event reinforces something our industry has long understood: progress is built on learning from the past and carrying those lessons forward with intention," shared Nicole Paterson, senior organizational health and safety advisor. "I'm grateful to be part of a community that treats safety as a shared responsibility, one shaped by experience, strengthened by collaboration and grounded in care." Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Conference: Oct. 28-29, 2026 Location: JW Marriott ICE District, Edmonton Attendee registration deadline: Oct. 21, 2026 Register: yourACSA.ca/conference About ACSA The Alberta Construction Safety Association (ACSA) is a member-centric, industry-funded not-for-profit and Alberta's largest certifying partner. ACSA had 60,459 members as of Dec. 31, 2025. Its mission is to leverage industry expertise through engagement, products, services and education, supporting safety and business excellence in Alberta's construction industry. For more information, visit yourACSA.ca or access the 2025 ACSA Annual Report. Media interview opportunities Advance interviews are available on request with: * ACSA CEO Mark Hoosein: Alberta-wide context, shared-work site coordination and the conference focus * Keynote speaker Lisa Nakamura: Common safety language and leadership across organizational boundaries * Larry Jones, Ledcor Group of Companies: Critical risks and field implementation * Peter Lineen, Bird Construction Ltd.: Critical risks and industry alignment Onsite interviews Oct 28-29 with these and other conference speakers may be arranged by request. View the ACSA 2026 Conference media kit For full speaker lineup, session descriptions and speaker biographies, visit: www.yourACSA.ca/media_kit Dana Myckan, Public Relations and Media Manager Alberta Construction Safety Association 587-357-0896 [email protected] This advertisement has not loaded yet. Quick Picks

Mammoet installs a massive headframefor BHP's Jansen potash project. June 2, 2026 Mammoet is helping Ledcor with the construction of the largest potash mine in Canada. Production at BHP's new Jansen potash mine is in Saskatchewan, about 140 km east of Saskatoon, is expected to begin in mid-2027. Once the mine is fully ramped up, Jansen will become one of the world's largest potash mines, producing about 8.5 million tonnes per year. The key scope for Mammoet was to remove the lower section of an existing headframe unit and replace it with a larger one to increase mining capacity. A mine's headframe is positioned above the shaft, delivering people, equipment and materials below and above ground. Mammoet also assisted with the complex lifting of a staircase tower module from inside the building where it was to be installed. With Jansen's remote location, modular construction techniques enabled the units to be prefabricated, delivered, assembled on site and installed efficiently. Mammoet's heavy lifting and transport expertise enabled the approach and limited the amount of construction equipment and operators on site. This enabled parts of both components to be built in parallel, shortening the project schedule relative to other methods. Planning. The project had been in planning for several years. Mammoet began work at the site in 2013, when the original headframe unit was constructed. The modules for the new headframe were prefabricated at specialist facilities in the Edmonton and other locations in Alberta. The parts were transported to site on platform trailers fitted with transport beams. This phase wasn't without its challenges. "Jansen is mainly farmland, so you will often see agricultural equipment and machinery being transported on its roads, but shipping these large modules presented issues when staging our trucks overnight," said Mike de Wilde, Project Manager at Mammoet. "We couldn't just pull into a normal layby because the trucks would fill the entire area. The schedule had to be carefully planned and managed." You may also like: During the planning phase, ground conditions were an important consideration. During the spring, the ground becomes soft and wet, so the team performed a ground-loading test between the laydown area and the mine shaft. Self-Propelled Modular Transporters (SPMTs) carrying counterweights tested the route so that areas of potential sinking could be identified. As a result, more than 400 crane mats were mobilized because the ground was too soft. Near the shaft opening, a section of ground also required reinforcement to support the weight of the new headframe module. A shoring system, constructed of 21-metre towers, was constructed at a basement level to provide stability. Due to the size of Mammoet's global fleet, extra steel supports could be mobilized from its yards in Dubai and the United Kingdom, reducing overall risk, despite the tough conditions. The real heavy lifting. With the modules on site, the team began removing the existing headframe and prepared for the installation. A 22-axle line and 20-axle line SPMT combination, both fitted with steel supports, were driven underneath the 796-tonne headframe module. The supports were necessary as using crane mats would have exceeded the ground-bearing pressure limits. The SPMTs lifted the headframe using their onboard stroke, allowing Ledcor and BHP teams to remove the temporary steel supports. Then, the unit was driven to a laydown area. Before the new headframe could be installed, Mammoet helped install a 60-tonne staircase tower inside it. A Liebherr LR1300 crawler crane lifted in strand jacks and other equipment through an opening at the top of the building. The team then assembled the intricate winch system to lift the staircase tower. The system comprised strand jacks and spools to secure the 61-metres of cable required to pull the staircase tower module from the bottom to the top of the building. The removal of the original headframe left a large opening at the base of the building, providing enough space to manoeuvrer the staircase module in range of the strand jacks and LR1500 crawler crane. Once the unit was inside the building, its position was manually adjusted using pullies and chain hoists so it could be secured and lifted. Overcoming obstacles. The last phase of the project was the installation of the new headframe, which weighed 2,090 tonnes, an almost 1,300-tonne increase from the previous headframe. A configuration of two double SPMT trains, with a combined 80 axle lines, were used for the movement. Finding the best configuration proved the biggest challenge. "We had to find a trailer configuration where we could carry the additional weight, be under the permissible ground-bearing pressure, plus be short enough to not clash with the existing structure," de Wilde said. Making this installation even more difficult was the fact that a section of the new headframe had to dock inside the staircase tower building. "We were pretty much stroked out with the SPMTs, so it was a very tight fit," de Wilde said. "Ditchdoctor had to align the head frame precisely with bolt positions specified in the engineering plans. Ledcor arranged for guidance lasers to be set up at the end of the platform, and its SPMTs had to align with them perfectly. "Because every deviation could cause serious problems when it came to setting the module down, it was a very precise manoeuvrer." The project is an example of Mammoet's skill when it comes to modular construction and efficient fabrication-to-foundation solutions. The option to use fabrication facilities and deliver everything to site was a benefit in terms of schedule and cost-efficiency. A great deal of specialized engineering went into making sure everything arrived on schedule and was connected smoothly