Canadian Occupational Safety (COS) magazine is the premier workplace health and safety publication in Canada. We cover a wide range of topics ranging from office to heavy industry, and from general safety management to specific workplace hazards.
Issue link: https://digital.thesafetymag.com/i/1315990
30 www.thesafetymag.com/ca Canada's Safest Employers awards are the leading independent awards event for the health and safety profession. We recognize the best in class and strive to have our categories as reflective of the industry as possible. That's why aside from our cavalcade of new judges and our new virtual format, this year's edition also boasted a whole host of new awards categories. W e a d d e d t w o n e w i n d i v i d u a l categories: CEO of the Year and Rising Star of the Year. We added a new vendor category, Best Safety Industry Provider, and we added a crop of new categories that really highlight just how the OHS sector is growing. These include Most Innovative Use of Safety Technology, Innovation in Industrial Hygiene Award and Canada's Safest New Employer. A closer look at the OHS sector Speaking with safety professionals, one thing that often comes up when discussing the job is just how much the sector has changed in the last decade or so. More so than ever before, safety is becoming a career choice — one for passionate individuals who really want to make a difference in the workplace. Another thing that often comes up in conversation: just how hard it is to be a safety pro. Speaking with COS before the big event, Robert Palmer, director of flight operations safety at Air Canada and finalist for Safety Leader of the Year said: "Being a leader in the world of safety, regardless of the industry or organization, is unquestionably one of the most difficult leadership roles in business today." And if it wasn't hard enough before, the pandemic has rocked the OHS sector, with safety professionals at the forefront of essential conversations in most organizations. Like with many industries, COVID-19 has brought about a number of challenges for our safety heroes, though there may be one silver lining: bringing those in the safety community closer together. "I think we had a good safety community before the pandemic, but the pandemic forced us to enhance o u r r e l a t i o n s h i p s w i t h i n o u r community and with other companies. One of the positives that came out of the pandemic is that we were able to strengthen those relationships and support one another in a much needed time," said Erika Harris, EHS and responsible care specialist at BASF and winner of the 2020 Rising Star of the Year award. K e y M e d i a a n d C a n a d i a n Occupational Safety are proud to be a part of Canada's Safest Employers Awards, and proud to highlight the best in class in such an inspiring profession.