Skip to content

Safety

Orillia Power Generation is committed to protecting the safety of employees and the public around all of its facilities and will proactively work to identify, analyze, and evaluate potential risks and implement appropriate safety measures.

Hydroelectric dams and water control structures by their very nature, may present a number of potential hazards to employees and the public. An important aspect of dam safety management is protecting employees and the public from hazards of dams at every stage of the dam life cycle, from design to decommissioning. Employee and public safety is an important element of an Owner’s due diligence in all stages and most importantly in the operational phase of a project.

Potential hazards may also arise in areas where the dangers posed by structures on the waterway are not well known to the public. This is especially true in the immediate upstream and downstream vicinity of hydroelectric dams and water control structures. The risk to the public may increase when rapidly changing flow conditions around dams are combined with a general lack of public knowledge about the dangers posed. Even relatively low height structures could create submerged eddies (which is the overflow of water continuously re-circulating) that can potentially trap individuals. Public awareness and education along with rigorous public safety measures and physical warnings directed toward the structures and areas of specific hazards help to reduce the risk to the public.

Ontario Power Generation has graciously shared the following public safety around dams videos.