Canadian Occupational Safety

day, he keeps a strict eye on what he eats and he lost 200 pounds in less than two years. Cananzi says this is a true testament to Matthew's willpower and resiliency — once he sets his mind on something, he achieves it. "Too late in life I actually understood the benefit of walking and keeping active and I hope anybody that (wants to get healthy) does it sooner in life rather than later," Mat- thew says. "I'm enjoying walking now whether it be walking the dog, walking with my wife, walking through the malls at lunch just to get that activity. It's important to me." Matthew is very involved in the community. He is the vice chair of the Hamilton chapter of the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering. He is also a member of two committees of the Infrastructure Health and Safety Association. Additionally, he is a member of the Electrical Safety Authority's Community Powerline Safety Alliance. He is also a member of the Association of Electrical Utility Safety Professionals. Matthew is always volunteering with various charities when opportunities arise through Alectra. "He is a wonderful role model from that perspective," says Cananzi. "People enjoy going out to events that they know Doug is going to be there. He makes things fun and people really respect that." THE NEXT GENERATION Right now, Matthew is in the safety profession for his grandson, Emmett, who is just one-and- a-half years old. "I know 20 years from now he is going to be in the workplace, so I want to make sure not just me but any other safety professional is looking out for those youngsters in the world to make it safer." In an effort to achieve this, he is a frequent speaker at My Safe Work events with Rob Ellis, an initiative with a particular focus on young worker safety. Matthew is an instructor in the OHS certificate program at Humber College in Toronto, covering courses on claims management, auditing and safety essentials. He also teaches new immigrant engineers and he impresses upon them the importance of thinking about the full life cycle of their projects. "It's always important when you're dealing with engi- neers that you make sure they understand that there's people at the end of the building they're designing, the truck they're developing… People are going to drive or operate this machine or fix it down the road," says Matthew. "Build those safe applications into it." This passion for teaching is seen at Alectra, where Matthew regularly helps others tap into their natu- ral talents, says Ross, who was in the trade for 25 years but always had an interest in safety. "Doug saw something in me and empowered me to take that to the next level. In doing so, I became a health and safety specialist for the first time… and all through the help of Doug and his approach to helping people realize their potential," he says. Mentoring "new safety folks" is very important to Matthew. He takes this respon- sibility very seriously and has taken many a young safety practitioner under his wing over the course of his career. "My leadership style is one of giving them as much rope as possible, make sure they're supported and every once in a while, give them some hints and tips," Matthew says. "There are some people you have to hand-hold a little bit more but it's nice to see them blossom. They come in as a raw safety person and three or four years later, now they're leading charge." Matthew believes one of the most impactful things a safety leader can do is build a strong safety team that can keep the organization moving forward in the safety mindset. "That's a great legacy," he says. "You can leave a policy or procedure behind, but when you leave the people behind, that's the real strength of the safety program — the people." DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018 21 PHOTO: RAMESH PURADCHITHASAN

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