Health and safety leadership

Senior specialist, Career and employment

How are you involved with occupational health and safety at uOttawa?

I am very engaged in the safety of our workplace. As the worker co-chair of the University Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee, I have the opportunity to represent all uOttawa workers in matters of occupational health and safety. I’ve been participating in the committee since September 2017 as a member and have been the worker co-chair since May 2018

What does workplace health and safety mean to you?

Workplace health and safety is a shared commitment in the province of Ontario. The University, the workers, unions, government and students all have a role to play, to ensure our collective safety. This is a personal commitment to collectively watch out for each other, to ensure we are all doing the right things and making our best effort to ensure one another’s safety. It’s shared responsibility and accountability.

How do you demonstrate your commitment to a healthy and safe workplace?

I’ve been volunteering on the UJOSH committee since September 2017. It helped me learn new skills, meet new colleagues from around campus and provides my teams and students with health and safety tips.

How do you engage and encourage the active participation of your team in the health and safety program?

As a trained and registered social worker, it’s important for me to be able to empower and inform people of their rights. So, I try to advocate and advise whenever the opportunity arises.  

What is something you always make sure your team knows about workplace health and safety?

Working in a safe environment free from physical and psychological harm is not only a right but also a responsibility we all share. There are policies and support teams available in our workplace. None of us are on our own to deal with such issues by themselves.

Senior Advisor, Workplace Mental Health & Wellness; Human Resources

Watch and listen as Benoit Lefebvre demonstrates health and safety leadership!

Director, Health and Wellness; Human Resources

How are you involved with occupational health and safety at uOttawa?

I am the director for health and wellness for all academic and support staff at the University. In addition, I am the cochair for the functional psychological health and safety committee as well as a certified member representing the employer at the JHSC.

What does workplace health and safety mean to you?

Workplace health and safety is to ensure the overall physical, psychological and social wellbeing for all faculty and support staff. Health and safety is more than just preventing illness or injury, but also promoting a physical and psychologically safe work environment to ensure a safe, happy, and productive workforce for all.

How do you demonstrate your commitment to a healthy and safe workplace?

First and foremost, would be to take care of oneself. As a director, it is important to lead by example. I frequently review my priorities with a wellness lens, identify risk factors and engage my team to focus on solutions. Our team is focusing on workload and work life balance. I am also the lead for the Healthy and Active Campus committee, a grass roots initiative started over 11 years ago by employees for employees, which focuses on healthy living and promoting the seven pillars of wellness across. My mandate is to support employees with their health needs as well as provide tools and strategic guidance on implementing the National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety throughout the University. I want to embed a culture of wellness in everything that we do, because when it comes to health, better has no limit. This means we can provide the best possible experience for all students.

How do you engage and encourage the active participation of your team in the health and safety program?

I have regular one on ones with my team to have a touchpoint on key issues as well as health and safety. We sometimes have meetings on the move which is great to incorporate physical activity in our day. Why sit when we can move! We also have regular team building activities throughout the year. My employees have continuous training on health and safety and are champions for mental health to influence others to walk the walk for wellness.

What is something you always make sure your team knows about workplace health and safety?

Workplace health is our number one priority. Human resources are our biggest asset and we need to care for one another to achieve our 2030 vision of being more agile, more connected, more impactful, but most importantly, more sustainable. Wellness is everybody`s business and collectively, we must act to ensure a safer, healthier workplace for all employees.

Senior Manager, Architectural Trades, Disasters, and Elevators; Facilities

Watch and listen as Michel Drapeau demonstrates health and safety leadership!

Facility Officer; Faculty of Health Sciences

How are you involved with occupational health and safety at uOttawa?

I participate in the health and safety inspections for our faculty.

What does workplace health and safety mean to you?

Prevention of injury, illness as well as safer work environment.

How do you demonstrate your commitment to a healthy and safe workplace?

Hazard identification, risk assessment, sharing of my safety knowledge and providing learning and training opportunities to our team.

How do you engage and encourage the active participation of your team in the health and safety program?

Communications, walking the walk as well as involving them in the health and safety inspections of our spaces.

What is something you always make sure your team knows about workplace health and safety?

It really is a team effort! If everyone takes part, it makes a safer workplace for all. If you see something, report it – it’s better to report it twice than not at all!

Manager, Facilities Planning and Logistics; Integrated Facilities Management

How are you involved with occupational health and safety at uOttawa?

You could say I have always been responsible for Health & Safety at uOttawa. In my role as Aquatic Coordinator I was responsible for ensuring the swimming pool was a safe environment and implementing programs to keep lifeguards and participants safe. As Facility Operations Lead, I was tasked with a lot of files around health and safety, such as building inspections, responding to building and people related safety issues, implementing education and training initiatives. In my new HSRM role I will continue to update safety plans for our facilities and lead communication to our team members around safety initiatives, particularly focused in both sports facilities and residences.

What does workplace health and safety mean to you?

It means keeping our people safe through preventing incidents, reducing and mitigating risks and in turn resulting in a happy, supportive and productive team and a satisfied client.

How do you demonstrate your commitment to a healthy and safe workplace?

Through identifying potential issues, preventing incidents, promoting employee training, and communicating effectively to ensure everyone is on the same page. Health and Safety requires an effective workplace culture, clear roles and responsibilities, and a commitment from everyone on the team to keep each other safe.

How do you engage and encourage the active participation of your team in the health and safety program?

Leading by example, regularly engaging with team members, listening actively to concerns, being solution-focused and providing clear communications to stakeholders. Also – knowing who to turn to within the organization and within the industry for support, guidance and resources.

What is something you always make sure your team knows about workplace health and safety?

We are all in it together. Everyone plays and important role and we all benefit and have fun when we can stay safe. Health and safety comes from a place of trust. You have to be approachable and supportive and look at being proactive in order to keep the team safe. If it is foreseeable, it is preventable. We should plan and work together to keep our teams safe. I think my foundation from working at the swimming pool and in sports facilities has really helped me in my role and in getting buy-in from our team members.

Chief Administrative Officer, Teaching and Learning Support Service

How are you involved with occupational health and safety at uOttawa?

You do not have to be a director, an expert nor a member of the health and safety committee to be involved with occupational health and safety. Every level within the organization has its responsibility with this area. I see my involvement as promoting and supporting a safety culture within my service. This includes areas such as awareness, training, risk assessments, and best practices. As one piece of the health and safety puzzle, I do not always have all the expertise on my own to assess a situation. As a result, I see part of my role as facilitating and obtaining the additional expertise when needed.

What does workplace health and safety mean to you?

Workplace health and safety should be seen beyond an act of compliance where we simply check off requirements. Rather, health and safety is a living act since it impacts the human beings in the workplace and also their loved ones at home. For leaders, this means keeping the health and safety of our people at the forefront of our decision-making and thought processes.

How do you demonstrate your commitment to a healthy and safe workplace?

At TLSS, we provide pedagogical tools and resources for teaching and learning. As such, we recognize that we are not excluded from needing training ourselves. By providing the team at the TLSS with the awareness and job-specific training for health and safety, we are helping to create a safer environment for our staff as well as for the classroom.

How do you engage and encourage the active participation of your team in the health and safety program?

Health and safety requires the continuous participation and commitment of every team member. Everyone needs to know that they are empowered to speak up when they see potential hazards or provide suggestions and improvements to mitigate risks. The other part is the knowledge that they will be listened to actively when they speak on this topic. This constant dialogue keeps the health and safety program functional and effective for teams.

What is something you always make sure your team knows about workplace health and safety?

When you do something unsafe, you are not only putting your safety at risk but the safety of those around you. By looking out for one another and keeping us all accountable, we provide the best protection for us all.