Art Maat Contributor Bio

Bio

Art has spent his entire life in the heavy equipment, site development, and green industries. He is currently President and CEO of the Edmonton operations within the Wilco Group of Companies and the WHiMASE Group. Art’s contribution to Nektar is tuned from his experience in managing his company-wide operations while leveraging software solutions developed to support day-to-day data management procedures.

Currently the over 300 employees of Wilco NW and the WHiMASE Group run 100% of daily field and admin operations in a paperless environment using the mobile Nektar apps. This includes, fleet maintenance, documentation of safe work practice meetings, JHAs, payroll time card data, maintenance logs for outdoor green spaces, site inspection reports, project daily logs, time and materials tracking for cost plus work records, etc. etc.

Art has provided innovative vision and leadership in the global marketing and sales success of the Nektar asset management systems, Histree, Arcsset, and Equipdata. An additional independent product, WiTRAX, developed in partnership with DRAXware Solutions, brings all of the WHiMASE software solutions into a single dashboard interface. This includes data mined in real time from Explorer, Heavy Bid (Accounting, Estimating) and the Nektar Data solutions. As well, the WHiMASE group has integrated all operations within a cloud hosted document management environment hosted by and in partnership with Egnyte. With this well rounded experience Art provides data collection, asset and document management consulting solutions to contractors, governments, enterprise, utility, green, and oil and gas industries.

Articles by Art Maat

Predictive Modeling and Its Role in Safety Prevention on the Job Site

Reacting to incidents is critical, but without predictive modeling your safety program won't be as strong as it can be. Learn how to use it proactively.
Top 3 Objections to EHS Software and What They Get Wrong

EHS professionals haven't all met the digital revolution with open arms. Find out how to respond to and manage their top 3 objections to EHS software.
Landscaping and Horticultural Services Safety

Landscaping and horticultural services have their own job-specific hazards. Find out how workers in this industry can stay safe.
Top 10 Safety Tips for Heavy Equipment Operators

Working with heavy machinery can be extremely dangerous. OSHA suggests these ten safety measures to help mitigate risk when operating heavy equipment.
Improving Communication and Response Time

Response time is the period between the occurrence of an accident and the first action taken as a result of it. Response time is important in every workplace, but in the areas of medicine and industry, it can be a matter of...
How to Encourage Employees to Report Workplace Hazards

Companies rely on their employees to identify and report hazardous working conditions, but not all of them are willing to do so. Follow these simple steps to eliminate your employees' reluctance to report workplace hazards.
Safety Violations Result in Stricter Preventative Measures

Preventative measures protect employees against injury, but not all workers abide by the rules and regulations resulting in stricter policies being put in place. Learn what the top safety violations are and what preventative measures exist.
Invest in Employee Training

The most important and valuable resource any company possesses is its employees, thus, investing in employee training and retraining is money well spent. Employees change; therefore, training needs to be updated to include...
Field Level Hazard Assessments 101

Field Level Hazard Assessments (FLHAs) should be a part of every field level employee's routine. Find out why they are so important.
6 Tips, Okay 11, for Keeping Cool on the Jobsite During the Summer

While we all love summer, it isn’t without its challenges for workers. Each year, thousands of North American employees suffer severe heat-related illnesses. Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA) reported that...
Benefits of Mobile Data Collection in Condition-Based Asset Management

A study conducted by PNW in 2014 reported that asset management within the Power and Utilities sector has the highest scope for improvement. It is no surprise to learn that improvements made in asset management within the...

Q&A by Art Maat

What is qualitative safety data?

Qualitative safety data is collected information that does not have a numerical value attached to it. Qualitative data includes first-hand accounts from employees and non-numerical audit findings, and helps determine why and...
What’s the difference between preventative maintenance and reactive maintenance?

Maintenance is an essential part of keeping equipment performing effectively and for as long as possible. Maintenance is inevitably associated with both downtime and cost, so it is sometimes put off in hopes of maximizing...
What is overall equipment effectiveness?

Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) is a metric used in manufacturing to measure productivity. OEE gives you an idea of your equipment’s performance, quality output, and downtime.Get Your Measurements OEE is a percentage...
How do I keep my workers safe when working off site?

This is a great question and it's a concern for many types of businesses. Landscaping, construction, plumbers, welders—all can spend much of their workdays off site (by which we simply mean somewhere other than their...
How do you overcome resistance to change when it comes to new safety rules, procedures, and initiatives?

Change management at work is something that employers need to give attention to as a company skill. Learn more here.
What data should we be collecting with regards to worker safety?

First and foremost, employers must comply with their country's regulatory agencies, such as OSHA in the United States. The data you collect regarding safety is used to direct safety efforts and monitor the effectiveness of...
What steps or measures can I put in place to reduce the effects of heat stress?

Workers in certain environments are more prone to heat stress. This includes: those who work outdoors and workers in hot workplace environments like firefighters, bakers, construction workers, agricultural workers, miners,...
What is the best duration and frequency for toolbox talks?

Toolbox talks are most effective if they last a few minutes at the beginning of a meeting or the start of each work day or the end of the day when employees, supervisors and/or employers spend some time thinking of a short...
Do I have to wear a seat belt while operating heavy machinery?

OSHA Title 29 CFR 1926.28(a) (Personal Protective Equipment) states that every employer must require the wearing of appropriate personal protective equipment in all operations where there is an exposure to hazardous...
By displaying a pre-shift inspection electronically am I COR and Canadian / USA DOT compliant?

In an effort to improve traffic safety and reduce collisions, the Alberta Government requires that all those who have commercial vehicles that transport goods, people, or other modes of transportation must have an Alberta...