Canadian Occupational Safety

8 Canadian Occupational Safety www.cos-mag.com By Liz Bernier I t was the biggest and best year yet for Canada's workplace safety champions. And if the fi fth annual Canada's Safest Employers (CSE) awards had an overarching theme, it was the importance of building a strong safety culture. The awards gala at the Arcadian Court in Toronto saw 36 companies taking the stage to receive an expanded lineup of awards. "It's a true testament to how safety has evolved over the last fi ve years," said Amanda Silliker, editor of Canadian Occupational Safety and the evening's emcee. "(The awards program) came from modest beginnings in 2011, with just fi ve winners, and has grown to this wonderful gala event… This year, we received fi ve times the nominations that we did in the fi rst year, and the quality of the applications is truly second to none." Employers all across the country, spanning a broad cross-section of sectors and industries, gathered to celebrate the most outstanding and innovative examples of what truly makes a safe employer. "You are the ones who have chosen 'locker-room leaders' and changed the culture of safety in your organization; who ensure that workers have one-on-one safety meeting with management; who have developed an emergency app for workers' cellphones; and who even launched a safety poster awareness campaign using employees' own family members," said Silliker. In 2015, the CSE awards launched two new categories — the Young Worker Safety award as well as Canada's Best Health + Safety Culture award, the top prize of the evening. There was also the regular lineup of 10 industry-specifi c awards, as well as the Wellness award and Psychological Safety award. Thomson Reuters, publisher of COS, was proud to bring so many excellent safety professionals together from across the country, said Neil Sternthal, managing director, Canada, Australia and New Zealand at Thomson Reuters. "Making sure every worker goes home safely every evening to their families is quite a noble goal, one that every organization in every sector in every jurisdiction can embrace. This goal is not a 'nice to have' — it's a must-have," he said. "Proactive and preventive steps to improve safety can literally mean the difference between life and death, and that's why the work of every single person in this room is absolutely critical." This year's new Canada's Best Health + Safety Culture award highlights the importance of embedding safety within the fabric of the organization — not just writing a list of rules, procedures and policies that, in practice, go ignored. Safety is so intrinsically tied into people, to culture, said Bruce Levitt, president and CEO at Levitt-Safety in Toronto, who presented the Canada's Best Health + Safety Culture award. "At Levitt-Safety… what we've come to realize is safety is really a whole lot more than the stuff people wear to protect themselves. Companies that do best in terms of creating a safe work environment do that by having a fantastic safety culture," he said. "We can't just assume that people will do things safely. And we've been on a journey for a number of years now to transform our own safety culture in our organization." A positive safety culture is what can make the difference between being a safe workplace and the safest workplace, said Dave Fennell, director of Dave Fennell Safety in Cochrane, Alta., and keynote speaker for the evening. "Having made a whole career out of safety, I really appreciate what it takes to be safe — the efforts, the dedication, the persistence," he said. Fennell challenged the 350 attendees to push themselves to be twice as safe by 2020. To do so, safety professionals need to focus on the proactive aspect of safety. In addition, an integrated focus on all the different elements of occupational health and safety — including facility safety, management systems, wellness and psychological safety — is needed. It's also important in building a strong safety culture to have a solid understanding of the psychology of workers — employers need to understand why workers take risks in the fi rst place, said Fennell. "What's going on in the cognitive aspect? Why do workers make mistakes?" The other new award offered this year, the Young Worker Safety award, is an important new addition, said Kevin Flynn, Ontario's minister of labour and guest speaker at the gala. "I think certainly as people start to take health and safety much more seriously, they're realizing that the sooner we introduce it into the thought process of young people — before they even start work — that's the right time to start," he said. Flynn shared a personal story about how he would often talk to his son about working safely when he was involved with putting in the tunnel under Niagara Falls. Then one day, his son saved a life at work. Flynn encouraged the audience to bring their safety messages home with them, too. "So when faced with the choice of doing things the right way or taking a shortcut, hopefully your voice will come into their head and they will do the right thing," he said. "You never know the infl uence it will have." An evening such as the CSE awards sends such an excellent message to employers across Canada, said Flynn. "And that message is that those people that do a very good job of health and safety receive a reward. They're admired by other people, they're respected by other people," he said. "I think it's very, very important to celebrate that… because it stresses to other employers across this country that this is the ideal, this is what you should aspire to — this is what all employers in this country should be working towards." As for the award winners, their work is far from over, said Fennell. "You need to share, measure and lead — expand your infl uence beyond your employees, beyond your contractors, beyond your associates to your communities that you work in," he said. "Help make your industry safer, your province safer and help make Canada a safer place for all workers." For the complete list of winners, visit www.cos-mag.com/cse2015winners.html. Creating a culture of SAFETY EXCELLENCE COS celebrates the winners of Canada's Safest Employers awards PEOPLE & PLACES Guests mingle at cocktail reception Kevin Hong, Vancouver Airport Authority, accepts award from Bruce Levitt, Levitt-Safety Dave Fennell, keynote Kevin Flynn, Ontario's minister of labour Mary Ann Baynton, Great-West Life, presents award to Alistair McIntyre, Carillion PHOTOS: TIM FRASER PHOTOGRAPHY

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