Taking “Partnerships in Practice” home with us.

Victoria was a wonderful location in which to have a conference and a number of us planned to spend an extra day or so in the area to experience the city and spend some time to exploring.

On Wednesday evening I went out with new and old friends and safety peers. The conference was over, most of us were tired from the various sessions and activities and it was nice to relax with people that have a common passion for safety. Many times I looked around the various venues we visited that evening and at the dinner table and listened to the variety of safety related conversations that were on the go… the sharing of information and business cards, the promises of keeping in contact, etc. I have been very blessed within my professional life to be able to bring different professionals from different places in the world, or in the profession, together. I truly believe in partnering to ensure our profession, my chosen career path, goes forward.

The weather in Victoria was as wonderful as the conference itself and I spent the day following the conference, cementing some of my relationships within the safety realm as I toured the area. I spent this day with Mike Thompson, President of the ASSE, and his wife Judy, Ed and Deb Dyna, and Mark Warrington. It was a time to ensure some of the follow-up conversations with the ASSE occurred, as well as build our professional relationships and personal friendships. One of the highlights of the day was visiting the Buchart Gardens. We were given a tour of the facilities by Jeff Lowden – the Occupational Health and Safety Manager. He shared his wealth of knowledge with us about the gardens and provided some wonderful creative controls to hazards present within his specific workplace. The pigtails up on the roof and the emergency response plans are top notch – all of you should visit Jeff to see them for yourselves. Thumbs up… Green thumbs to be exact, to your safety management system at the Gardens. Thanks for the tour.

CSSE PDC 2007 – Day 3

The day started with honouring various safety achievements at the Awards Ceremony. Our awards are to highlight the achievements of individuals and groups within our organization – Congratulations to all the winners.

The conference finished off the day with a presentation from Paul Huschilt – Seven Humour Habits for Workplace Wellness. It emphasized the importance of laughter and fun within the workplace, but also within our lives as safety professionals. We must work to overcome our challenges and provide our best service.

For me, rounding out the morning with announcing the winners of the Prevention Solutions Challenge was ideal.

I was truly impressed by this year’s conference speakers, events and organization. The National Committee approach to PDC planning is confirmed as the best direction, when conferences such as this are being held. Congrats to the dynamic team that worked so hard to put this one together.

One of the activities that all the board members try to do around the conference is to drop by the professional development courses before and after the conference to introduce ourselves to the group and chat at bit. Having these around the conference helps those attending make the most of their time, money and effort.

See you all next year at the PDC in Quebec City. If you are interested in submitting a proposal for presenting at this conference, please download the form under conference tab on the website and submit before November 15, 2007.

CSSE PDC 2007 – Day 2

Another day of great presentations – informative, challenging and entertaining. The CEO panel, which included Pat Jacobsen of TransLink, Robert Taylor of Weyerhaueser and Paul Henning of Alcan Primary Metal, was one of the highlights of this day for me. Hearing their definitions of safety, effective safety management within their organizations, how they see the role of the professional and themselves allowed me to look at different ways that our profession and CEOs can “Partner in Practice”.

The conference, for the executive, is not just about going to see speakers. We hold many different meetings with outside organizations and with groups within the CSSE to foster relationships and invest in the future of the CSSE. One such meeting was a luncheon with the international organizations: ASSE (Mike Thompson & Fred Fortman) and IOSH (Lisa Fowlie and Sasha Lemen) the BCRSP (Peter Lineen) and CSSE Executive (Art Nordholm and Andrew Cooper). Having an informal “meeting of the safety association minds” allows for free exchange of ideas and generations of future plans, as well as strengthens our working relationships. In the past these meetings have resulted in INSPHO, selling of resources on our website and a further commitment to NAOSH Week. At this meeting we had further discussions on competencies, activities around NAOSH Week and the possible expansion of a Safety Professional Day across North America. There will be follow-up on these topics and others discussed around the table in the very near future. As the conference theme this year – partnerships in practice – we recognize that we can be so much farther ahead with IOSH, ASSE & CSSE working together, than separate. This meeting also emphasized the relationship that CSSE and BCRSP can have and we confirmed a joint meeting of the board in February 2008 to discuss this further.

The CHSC & Professional Member Reception and the BC Chapter Social Night provided great opportunities for all who attended the conference to mingle, interact and let our hair down a little. Social activities and networking opportunities are just others way to connect and find ways to “Partner in Practice”.

CSSE PDC 2007 – Pre Conference & Day 1

Pre-Conference Panel Presentation:

On Sunday September 9, 2007 I attended the Pre-Conference Panel Presentation. Wow! When I looked around the table at all the experience and global representation, I could not help but be impressed. Thanks to Peter Sturm for arranging this one.

The panel was made up of seven international speakers - Lisa Fowlie – IOSH, UK; Mike Thompson – ASSE, USA; Paul Pascoe –Australia; Mark Warrington – Dubai UAE; Leonard Gaius – Africa; Roberta Sheng-Taylor – WorkSafeBC; Vic Pakalnis – ON MOL and Peter Sturm CSSE. The group discussed “Competencies of the Safety Professional – A National and Global Perspective”. The panels' presentations were informational, but most of all thought provoking and challenging. They allowed us to explore concepts beyond our technical skills and information and allowed consideration of other skills and information that could and maybe should be applied within our profession – leadership, management of change, social and corporate responsibilities, management business approaches… the list went on. Thanks to all who shared and presented on this panel.

For me personally, hearing about the challenges of the safety profession from around the world and the variety of ideas on what we should have in our safety professional tool kit was a wonderful pre-conference jump start. But that was just me… if you attended this panel, what did you think? Was there something that stood out for you? From the information that this panel gave, is there a direction in which the CSSE should go with regards to content for the future PDC’s or for our educational deliveries?



Day 1:

The conference theme this year was “Partnerships in Practice”, reflecting on the importance of forging partnerships in the world of Occupational health and Safety. As President, it is a great honour to be able to open and MC a conference of this calibre. With opening speakers such as Justin Trudeau and Diana Miles (WorkSafeBC), we could tell that the conference was going to be right on the mark. The previous day’s panel challenged us to think about who we are and what we need to have as competencies within the profession. This first day of the conference continued that challenge as well as provided us with some tools to meet those needs.

This was the most attended conference to date – 550 people in attendance, as well as the largest exhibit to date – 65 exhibitors. This first day of the conference for me was “WOW”.

I want to emphasize that a professional development conference is not just about sitting around listening to other people speak, it allows for many social activities. Monday night’s event included a dinner theatre, but my favourite entertainment of the conference was seeing the Queen of England knight Sir John and Sir Jim.

CSSE Board Meetings September 2007

I Chair the CSSE’s Board meetings that are held three times a year at various locations, across Canada, selected based upon activities happening with the CSSE. This September the fall meeting was held in Victoria, due to the CSSE’s annual conference.

I have to congratulate this dynamic group of people that I work with on this level. We have a real “hodge-podge” of strengths and personalities around the table and that is what makes this Board really work and what sometimes makes it challenging. Everyone has a unique way of looking at the business put before the Board and everyone contributes so that the CSSE can move forward.

Usually the first part of the meeting involves some type of board development before the meeting officially starts. The board development can be facilitated sessions to build our working together capabilities, or it can be a review or an exploration of concepts and ideas affecting business of the CSSE.

The Regional Vice Presidents (RVP’s) are very active in Board discussions and decisions, with a focus on the Society going forward as a whole. Their role around the Board table is slowly changing from its past role of simply representing their own region. As those of you who attended the AGM last week know – we are organizing the business of the CSSE into Strategic focuses, or as Jim calls them – Business units. Each of the RVP’s and the executive have been supportive of this process, having confirmed at the meeting that this is the direction we will be taking into the future and I look forward to each of them playing a larger role within it.

One of the RVP’s will be leaving us – Andy Gauthier. Thanks for all your hard work Andy.

Meetings, Meetings, and more Meetings around the PDC.

One thing that I am pleased to see is that the strategic committees of the CSSE are planning more face to face meetings around the PDC each year. This is the second year that the Education Committee has had a meeting the Saturday night prior to the Board meeting and then gone out for dinner together. Sunday morning was a busy one for meetings - our Instructors / Trainers and Education Committee had a “meet and greet” and the Advocacy group had their first face to face. The Regional Council meeting with Chapter Chairs / Executive (which is undergoing a name change) all met on Sunday morning. Of course everyone attended the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in the afternoon before the opening reception.

The AGM allows people to put a face to a name and get to know each other, to exchange information and to continue building working relationships. For those of you on the committees who need additional justification to attend the PDC, having these meetings or attending some of the education sessions help with that.

I just want to say, to all those who are a part of these groups who made the effort to arrange and attend the meetings (either physically or, for some, by conference call) – thanks for your commitment and effort. Keep up the good work. Your effort does not go unnoticed.