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C O L U M N S
SPECIAL REPORT
FIVE-STAR SAFETY CONSULTANTS
COVID-19 guidelines but, more broadly, how to still
provide joint health and safety committee training,
how to still function and be part of the economy and
support employees financially.
Pandemic planning and ensuring continuity of
business have been in massive demand — not just to
face the current COVID-19 crisis but looking toward
the future, too.
One of the big questions that clients were asking,
says Mazur, was "do you have a pandemic response
plan that we can have as part of our safety manual?"
Another integral part of health and safety is also
training. Mazur mentions that one of the main services
he offers is classroom training. With the pandemic, he
has had to shift to a virtual classroom and distance
learning.
For safety consultants in the same position, they have
had to "make sure that the customers were still receiving
quality training and being compliant," says Mazur.
"[The pandemic] has, in many ways, forced safety
consultants or safety professionals to think outside the
box — even more than what we thought the box looked
like," says Mazur.
The most important thing for safety pros has been
to find creative solutions to ensure that employers are
still achieving compliance regardless of the pandemic.
More visibility
Perhaps a bright spot in this whole pandemic has been
that safety professionals are finally getting their due.
Being a safety consultant or being an OHS
professional within an organization can sometimes be
a lonely affair. The role has maybe been misunderstood
or even overlooked.
"It's quite a trying time for the sector… Every
safety professional I've spoken to has just been so
incredibly busy."
Andrea Crittenden, Sixteen Safety Services, Inc.
irrevocably. New concerns have emerged: For those
working from home, ergonomics and mental health
have been key concerns. For those working on-site,
ensuring that employers have access and a proper
understanding of COVID-19 guidelines has been
essential.
"Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has
created unique health and safety challenges for all
businesses. It has been our privilege to help employers
protect their people," says Lynn Brownell, president
and CEO, Workplace Safety & Prevention Services
(WSPS), one of our winners.
"It's quite a trying time for the sector," says
Crittenden. "For the most part, the safety person out
there is busy with maintaining the health and safety of
others and mitigating COVID-19 transmissions. Every
safety professional I've spoken to has just been so
incredibly busy."
And, she says, it affects anybody that operates
within essential or allowable businesses. And this
encompasses a range of clients both old and new.
New challenges
Some of the challenges raised by the pandemic have, of
course, been focused around ensuring compliance with
the new guidelines. Safety consultants have needed
to address clients' concerns around how to respect
