Jump to winners | Jump to methodology
Hundreds of COS readers rated Canadian safety suppliers in multiple areas, including consulting, training and technology, determining the 2023 COS Readers’ Choice award recipients.
Industry expert Dave Rebbitt of Rarebit Consulting explains that, to succeed, organizations need to be properly structured.
“Poor governance can directly affect the safety of the workplace,” he says. “Without accountability, there is no internal responsibility system, which is the bedrock of Canadian OHS legislation.”
Detailing current and future trends in the Canadian OHS sector, Rebbitt lists the following:
employee health or mental health: directly related to the legislation of harassment and workplace violence or bullying as a workplace hazard, whether it be health and safety, financial or operational
harassment and governance issues
transportation of dangerous goods legislation
a looming labour shortage
regulators beginning to take notice of public expectations: for example, recent record-high penalties for asbestos violations in British Columbia
drug testing shows increases in marijuana and methamphetamine use
ESG requirements
legislation banning the use of non-disclosure agreements
greater regulation of railroad companies
Rebbitt also emphasizes the need for occupational safety suppliers in Canada to continue thinking outside the box and tailoring their offerings to the requirements of firms.
“Workplace needs and employee needs vary by company, and this is not a one-size-fits-all problem,” he says.
Sarah Wilson, president and CEO of Canadian Safety Group (CSG), which won several categories, is a Renaissance woman. She was an underwater welder and demolitions expert and also has a master’s degree in clinical psychology and a PhD in epidemiology, with a focus on predictive analytics and safety. Wilson attributes CSG’s proficiency to pushing the boundaries while remaining realistic with their services.
“We’ve been 200 kilometres south of the North Pole and as far south as Bermuda – you go where you need to be,” she says. “Some of the most challenging [trips] have been on the steam liners, trying to do training at 2 a.m. with the boats rocking.”
The group builds trainers’ resilience through a 180-hour intensive instructor development program that emphasizes realism. Simulating real-world situations, the group engages students by teaching:
what real blood looks like
what real vomit looks like
what burnt flesh smells like
what it’s really like to try to carry a 200 lbs. person
As a result of their excellence, the group has been able to:
train in over 37 countries worldwide
garner 11 awards in 2023, ranging from COS Top Women in Safety to Best First Aid Training
donate over 1,500 working at heights courses to help people gain employment
Wilson also shares insight on how CSG wants to ensure workers across Canada are confident about their safety.
“If the workers are feeling like they’re going to go home at the end of the day, then they come in and they work,” she says.
However, despite being a leading firm, CSG is looking to the future to continually adapt its offerings to meet the needs of its clients.
“How we do things from a regulatory standpoint is going to change for us,” says Wilson. “For things like rescue training, there’s going to be a real focus on transference of learning, particularly when using a high-risk, low-frequency-type model and training.”
Other issues that Wilson sees as a focus for the future include the following:
the emergence of advanced software, artificial intelligence and the metaverse
problems with regulators switching between being proactive and reactive
worker pay rates not keeping up with cost-of-living increases
a lack of training resources for new technologies
Wilson says a lot of these issues are causing confusion and stress on work sites and in classrooms.
“You can feel the tension in the air,” she says.
The director of client services at Worksite Safety Compliance Centre, Kate Lashbrook, oversees the national client service associate and national advisory services teams. For her, distinguishing Worksite from the competition relies on leveraging their vast resources.
Worksite, which also won in multiple categories, has instructor-led training in 17 locations throughout Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, not to mention online learning options.
“There’s great diversity in our training when we look at our online offerings and instructor-led and distance learning,” she says. “There’s not one size that fits all when it comes to how people learn and retain information. We have courses available in French and English, and our e-learning has been a focus as we expand into the Quebec market.”
Their mobile app is free and stores learner records and certifications for their courses, but it also enables employers to upload any training they do and track it for credential expirations.
Lashbrook says, “We also have this digital signature feature, which allows the learner to sign off on their card or request a signature from their employer, and then they can have a complementary plastic card printed and mailed out to them. So, as well as having it as an app, it’s available for an inspector, a foreman or a supervisor to verify on site.”
As a result of its ambition and offerings, Worksite has:
trained over 1 million Canadians since 2011
been featured four times in Maclean’s and The Globe and Mail as one of the fastest-growing companies in Canada
had one of their teammates, Claudia Heathfield, celebrated as one of the COS’ Top Women in Safety in 2023
Worksite is also looking to the future and focused on maintaining its status as an industry leader. Lashbrook points to immigration as an ongoing opportunity in their classrooms, as according to Statistics Canada, as of Q2 of 2023, Canada has seen an increase of over 1.2 million people year over year.
“We’ve seen an influx of students from Ukraine in the last year, especially in the classroom,” she says. “People are coming in from the US and Mexico and different countries, such as Pakistan.
“Then we have our group of people with the work that’s happening at the high school level in these specialist high skills programs and young workers kind of build a career in the trades. So, we’re seeing these students in our classrooms as well.”
Leveraging over 20 years of environmental, health and safety (EHS) experience in various industries across North America, Angela Wheeler is the program manager for chemical hazard assessment and management program (CHAMP) software at Chemscape Safety Technologies. She advises clients on how to effectively implement CHAMP into their OHS and chemical management programs.
“As a technology company, we strive to continually develop new features to meet the pace of change in technology and the evolving complexity of managing chemicals,” she says.
Wheeler says Chemscape’s safety data sheet (SDS) software is distinguished by:
Scalability: sdsBinders/CHAMP meets compliance needs for WHMIS or can go beyond WHMIS compliance to manage the lifecycle of chemical use by adding chemical approvals, hazard and risk assessments, product stewardship and regulatory reporting, and they actively engage the client’s whole workforce in chemical management.
Education and coaching: They provide consulting from an occupational hygienist to help clients implement the software into their chemical management program.
Data integrity and reliability: The SDS data are superior to that of competitors, and they invest in the accuracy, timeliness and reliability of the information. There’s no duplication, and they regularly check with manufacturers for updates.
As a result of these attributes, Chemscape has observed in their SDS library a 31% turnover of significant new information on the SDSs incoming from chemical manufacturers.
Wheeler also mentions other issues pertinent to the chemical management technology field.
“There has been a lot of consolidation of players into a one-stop shop for EHS solutions,” she says. “We see this trend continuing as larger, enterprise service providers acquire smaller, specific function players to round out their broad offerings in areas like environmental, social and governance (ESG). Another trend is the push for greater integration between business operational systems, driving more partnerships.”
The survey for the Canadian Occupational Safety’s eighth annual Readers’ Choice Awards 2023 took place between April 3 and 28, 2023. The COS team compiled for nomination an impressive list of vendors and suppliers to the OHS community from across the country, based on the team’s knowledge and additional research within each area.
Readers were invited to cast their ballots in an online survey, and responses were completely confidential. Research participants were asked to rate products and services available to the OHS profession across a number of categories, including consultants, emergency management, ergonomics, facility safety, and more. The top three nominees who received the most overall votes were awarded the Readers’ Choice designation.
The Readers’ Choice 2023 special report is proudly supported by the Women in Occupational Health & Safety Society (WOHSS).
Incorporated as a not-for-profit society in 2017, the Women in Occupational Health & Safety Society (WOHSS) is a grass-roots organization that is dedicated to supporting women working in occupational health and safety (OH&S). WOHSS is committed to building a better future for women in occupational health and safety.
The board of directors is comprised of professionals from across the country, representing a diverse cross-section of the occupational health and safety profession. Our board represents leaders of different backgrounds, experiences and career paths, all dedicated to one common goal: to build a better future for women working in OH&S.