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.
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6 Canadian Occupational Safety www.cos-mag.com By Amanda Silliker H igher education leaders must construct curriculum that instills the professional ethics and commit- ment safety professionals need to meet the demands of the global economy, found a recent report. A moral and ethical-based curricu- lum will better prepare future safety professionals to have an ethics-based thought process when they enter the workforce, found "Commitment, Ethics and Compliance, A Look at Perceptions in the SH&E Profession," a peer-reviewed feature in the Sep- tember issue of Professional Safety, the journal of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE). "This is one of the first snap- shots taken of the safety and health New executive MBA for OHS professionals introduced by UFred By Zachary Pedersen T he Sandermoen School of Business at the University of Fredericton (UFred) is launching an executive MBA in occupational health and safety leadership. The program was devel- oped in response to a clear need for OHS leaders to have access to master's level education, it said. Evidence has shown that well- designed and managed OHS programs support healthy, resilient and pro- ductive workforces, contributing to fi nancially sound organizations, according to UFred. As a result, OHS programs and processes are winning more prominent visibility in the exec- utive level agenda. To address the need for an expand- ing OHS leadership voice, this program has been developed to signifi cantly enhance management- related educational opportunities for advanced-career professionals and managers of OHS units who aspire to lead their businesses towards much higher performance. Beginning on Jan. 6, 2014, with subsequent entry points fi ve times per year, the program will cover a spectrum of topics from management essentials, such as accounting, fi nance and operations, to a detailed exami- nation of leadership within a network of complex stakeholder relationships. It fi nishes with a series of specialty track courses and an integration proj- ect focused on building OHS-related leadership competence. With a tuition fee of $24,500, there will be 14 fully online courses, each completed in a seven-week, fi xed- agenda format, with one live webinar per week. If courses are taken one at a time in sequence and without a break, the duration of the MBA program would be two years and fi ve months. The program was developed with input from the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering (CSSE). profession as far as an ethics review," said author John Wells Jr. "Many other professions have ethics standards, and we are in an industry that is impacted by ethical and moral decisions." The study examines the differences in professional commitment among safety professionals of various ages. It examined predictive relationships between professional commitment, ethical reasoning and the belief in regulatory compliance. Most of the study's respondents demonstrated a solid grasp of ethical decision-making. The 11,189 study participants reported working in the safety fi eld for fi ve years to 44 years. Results indicated those born between 1925 and 1945 showed the highest level of professional commitment, followed by those who were born between 1979 and 2002. According to Wells, the study is the fi rst of its kind and future research is warranted to study HSE professionals of varied educational backgrounds to capture a better snapshot of the ethical reasoning in the profession. Ethics education critical for safety professionals: ASSE study CSSE focuses on sustainability By Amanda Silliker I ntegrating safety and sustainabil- ity is one of the main goals for the coming year for the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering (CSSE). The importance of this integration has been brought to the forefront with the horrible tragedies that have occurred in supply chains, such as in Bangladesh, said Andrew Cooper, president of CSSE. "It has impacted Canada and we realized health and safety is owned through the supply chain as well as health and safety needs to be mea- sured, and those measurements have to be enhanced from a stakeholder, shareholder and consumer perspec- tive," he said. At its professional develop- ment conference held in Montreal in September, CSSE announced past president Peter Sturm has been appointed to the board of directors for the Centre for Safety and Health Sustainability in Des Plaines, Ill. And that is just the tip of the iceberg, said Wayne Glover, CSSE executive director. The CSSE is planning on moving forward with approaching CEOs and management in orga- nizations to discuss safety and sustainability. "We want to engage them in safety and what that means, how it impacts the bottom line positively, using some of the research that's starting to come out around how having a safety professional on staff really does save lives," he said. CSSE is also actively involved in the development of an international occupational health and safety standard. The OHSAS 18001 standard is being transformed into an ISO standard, and CSSE board member Dylan Short is on the project committee. "That means we have a voice in creating the standard and we have eyes on the standard as its being developed — this is what's coming, this is how its going, this is the impact it's going to have," said Cooper. CSSE is also adding professional development courses related to the new CSA Z1001 standard for OHS training, including a train- ing needs assessment course and a training development course. "It sets the stage so OHS pro- fessionals and practitioners understand what their needs are for training and then how to build training so it will be as successful as it possibly can be in terms of delivering knowledge and skill so that workers can be successful every day," said Cooper. The association will be "enhanc- ing and refreshing" its practice groups, he said. It currently has fi ve practice groups: health care, public service, mining, training and Certifi ed Health and Safety Consultant (CHSC). While the practice groups are currently member-driven, they will be board-driven and mem- ber-supported going forward. "We're pretty geographically distributed and there are some members who can't get to a chapter meeting so how do we bring them together virtually so they can learn, share and grow?" said Cooper. "We'll be providing the practice groups with some activities to allow them to engage with members… so we have a lead and can drive performance in that area." The CSSE executives hinted at some upcoming changes to NAOSH Week. Currently, there are many different activi- ties that take place across the country and CSSE needs to connect the dots, said Cooper. The changes will be revealed in the spring, said Jim Hopkins, CSSE vice-president and treasurer. "Were going to make it more a call to action for safety professionals, organizations and the public at large." HEALTH & SAFETY NEWS forward with approaching CEOs and management in orga- nizations to discuss safety and sustainability. how it impacts the bottom line positively, using some of the research that's starting to come out around how having standard, and CSSE board member Dylan Short is on the project committee. Andrew Cooper, president, CSSE