Winners of Canada's Safesty Employers Awards will be announced in October
The nomination process for Canada’s Safest Employers Awards (CSEA) is now open. This is an opportunity to recognize a colleague or company demonstrating excellence in safety within a particular industry. The nomination period closes on April 19th, so now is the time to act.
There is set criteria unique to each category and explanations must be provided as to why the nominees deserve to be recognized in a particular category. There are 20 categories, so it is important to choose wisely, and select the most appropriate category for nomination.
How it works
The awards team conducts research, drawing on Canadian Occupational Safety for knowledge and data to verify and support information given during the nomination process. Then they create a shortlist of nominees who are invited to move into the next round. They are required to complete a more detailed submission form and send out an employee perception survey, which must be circulated among employees. There is a minimum threshold of respondents needed and it must be completed by a predetermined deadline.
Once the research phase is complete, potential awardees will be selected and notified. All submissions remain confidential and will not be shared with third parties other than the judges.
The independent judging panel is comprised of dozens of esteemed industry experts, thought leaders, and veterans of the occupational health and safety profession. The judges assess and vote for the winners in each category according to the relevant criteria. This voting process takes place in late summer and the judgement is impartial, balanced, incisive, and fair. If a judge has a conflict of interest in a category, they must recuse themselves from judging in that category.
A simple points system is used to aggregate the judges’ votes and the excellence awardee with the top score in a category is named the winner. Winners will be announced at the gala event which takes place Thursday October 10th at the Liberty Grand in Toronto.
Past winners & sponsors
Winners are extremely proud to receive the awards, and it puts a feather in the cap of their safety management programs. But it’s also a great opportunity for potential sponsors to be associated with excellence in safety.
Avetta was once again one of the main event partners, and sponsored the award for Best Safety Industry Provider. “Avetta fundamentally changes the dynamics of the supply chain,” says Nicole Brackett, director of sales at Avetta Canada. “We enable and verify ongoing environmental, social, and financial performance, helping companies build a strong and diverse supplier base – all on a global scale. By making supply chains safer and more sustainable, we support OHS professionals throughout Canada, and that’s why we are honoured to participate in these awards.”
The award for Best Safety Industry Provider went to 4S Consulting Services Inc. “Awards like this make a difference,” says Sabesh Kanagaretnam, CEO of 4S consulting. “We want to serve as many clients as we can, and our aim is to leave them with an innovative solution that can sustain their health and safety programs.”
The Minerva Award for Rising Star of the Year is another honour that many industry professionals take note of. “Our sponsorship of the Minerva Award for Rising Star of the Year reinforces our promise by recognizing these future leaders who have demonstrated a passionate commitment to the integration of health and safety in the workplace,” says Tony Pasteris, president of Minerva Canada. “Minerva Canada’s health and safety educational programs and resources for post-secondary academia leverage lessons from established leaders to align and elevate the safety culture of our next generation of workers and managers.”
Alyssa Grocutt, a PhD student with the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University, is the 2023 Rising Star recipient. “This one means a lot because it’s so specific to the goal that I set out to attain, which is improving safety, or at least promoting safety, and making sure that everyone goes home safely,” says Grocutt. “So this just feels really great.”
The Marks Commercial Award for Most Innovative Use of Safety Technology recognizes companies that are “committed to fostering long-lasting relationships with likeminded companies that share our values,” says Marks Commercial. “We are proud to sponsor an award in recognition of those collective safety efforts, and look forward to seeing the meaningful impact we can all achieve to create a safer future for all.”
If you wish to nominate an individual or a company, fill out the forms here.
