Toronto Chapter Education Day

The Toronto chapter held a Professional Development Day on Tuesday February 12, 2008 and I was invited to attend to support and participate. Thanks to the chapter – what a great day.

The following is a list of the wonderful speakers who presented and the topics they discussed at the meeting:

• Cheryl Edwards discussed liabilities of the safety professional under OH&S legislation;
• the Honorable Brad Duguid, Ontario Minister of Labour spoke about this view;
• Ontario WCB discussed the accreditation pilot project of the WSIB;
• a panel that spoke about safety professional competencies; the panel included Kirby James (The James Group), Theresa Wong Toose (Mapleleaf Foods) and me... just to mention a few.

It was great to have the Minister of Labour speaking at the event, he was a real draw. I hear that Theresa had the connections to bring him in – way to use them. It is all about partnerships and utilizing them strategically – oh, is that not the theme of this year’s PDC in Quebec city? Anyway…

The event was well planned – congrats to Lisa Tkaczuk for all her hard work as she primarily organized and managed this chapter initiative and the other chapter members who supported her initiative and did their part to make it a success. It was well attended – I am unsure of the final numbers but over 100 people attended for sure.

Congratulations to Toronto chapter for having a great professional development day that was informative and entertaining. I’d like to hear about your professional development day – do you have one? What do you have planned? When is it scheduled? Feel free to post your comments.

Pictures attached – Toronto Chapter Executive and a shot with Honorable Brad Duguid.

Meetings between the President and the Executive Director are important.

Monday, February 11, 2007

While in Toronto recently I met with Wayne Glover at the CSSE office to review theyear’s agenda, prepare for the upcoming board meeting and to make sure we are bothinformed about what is going on in the CSSE world… from both of our perspectives. As the President, I have been in regular (Wayne may think it is constant) communication with him in his role as the Executive Director. Together, we continue to look at the vision of the organization and the strategic and operational plans and we work to ensure that these items are moving forward. As the board has moved to the strategic focus format, discussions on how things are going, what direction they are taking and in what direction we need to move the organization is key between these two positions - to ensure the forward momentum that we have. Wayne has also been in regular communication via phone and email to Art Nordholm - the Treasurer / V.P. who will be taking on the role of President this coming fall. Wayne is a key element to ensuring a smooth transition and aconsistent approach to our projects and strategic focus areas.

I believe that it is of utmost importance for the President and the Executive Director to have at least one or two face to face meetings a year, as well as the numerous phone calls and emails, as they work closely together for the benefit of the organization. It allows both to get to know each other’s approach and to plan activities, meetings, and communications appropriately. Wayne has been wonderful in assisting me to fulfill my role as President, calm me when I need calming, motivate me when I need motivating... and I know that he will continue to provide great support to our organization with the next, and the next, and the next.

Saskatchewan Safety Seminar

As the President of the CSSE it's great when my work allows me to attend conferences where I can wear the CSSE President hat and represent our wonderful association. The Saskatchewan Safety Seminar - one of the biggest safety conferences in the West (notice I said 'one,' Terry...) was held in Saskatoon, SK. So, since I didn't have to travel to get there and I was going to be there anyway, I am part of the conference committee and my job places me there to work. I was able to represent the CSSE at a couple of the events and activities at the conference.

Cris Kemp - the SK / MN Regional V.P. did a great presentation on "Everything you wanted to know about the CSSE"; he effectively communicated who we are and what we can do if people are interested in health and safety and moving their agendas forward within their workplaces. I introduced Cris at the conference and put in my 2 cents with a summary at the end of his presentation… Image that, me putting in my 2 cents.

Although there were many chapter members to man the CSSE booth at the conference, I also stepped in offer my support. It was a pleasure to bring people over to the booth, to hand out materials to interested people and to assist Cris with dismantling and boxing the booth for shipping. I thought, being President, I might be able to delegate that task, but no, taking down and boxing up is also a part of the job description.

Approaching exhibitors at the conference with PDC information took a couple of them by surprise, as I think they are more accustomed to going after conference attendees than having someone approach them with information trying to sell them on the positive aspects of exhibiting at the PDC. Hopefully one or two will take us up on the opportunity and be exhibitors at our conference in Quebec City.

Having a joint CSSE chapter meeting with over 30 people in attendance between the South Saskatchewan and Northern Light Chapters was another opportunity at this event to talk about the CSSE, to answer some questions and to receive some feedback. Cris did another wonderful presentation and we worked together to talk about NAOSH Week, the upcoming PDC and some of the positive aspects of the CSSE. It is good to celebrate our local and national successes with likeminded people - those who support the safety profession and the CSSE.