JUDGES
For any awards, carrying out fair, consistent, and accurate judging is key to ensuring the true winners are recognized. To deliver this, we have assembled a diverse and unbiased judging panel of experts. The judges are assigned categories which reflect their expertise and are asked to recuse themselves from voting in any category in which there is a conflict of interest
All Judges are required to sign a non-disclosure agreement for the purpose of preventing the unauthorized disclosure of confidential information. This includes the sharing of the information contained within the submission forms with any third parties and communicating with shortlisted nominees in any way.
2022 JUDGES
Amina Deiab is known as an agile executive leader and catalyzer of transformational change.
Amina Deiab is currently the President and CEO of the Safety Codes Council, an independent regulatory body that administers and oversees safety codes and safety code services in the province of Alberta. The Council makes recommendations on public safety to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and accredits municipalities, corporations and agencies to deliver inspection, permitting and enforcement services, trains and certifies safety codes officers, oversees the delivery of permits and inspections for Albertans who live in unaccredited areas of the province through the Alberta Safety Codes Authority.
Prior to joining the Safety Codes Council, Ms. Deiab served in several leadership roles in the Government of Alberta working in the intersection of large scale economic development, strategy, policy and governance. Key initiatives have included designing the governance structure and providing oversight to the execution of Alberta’s Petrochemical Diversification Program; assessing project potential for developing new refining capacity in Alberta; and leading an economic policy and statistical branch that developed strategies, and legislation to increase market development and growth in Alberta’s technology sector, resulting in receiving two Ministerial commendations from the Minister of Economic Development and Trade.
Amina volunteers with not-for profits across Alberta to teach boards and organizations about effective corporate governance, and has advised and mentored start- up companies on developing corporate governance playbooks and building better governance to help growing companies succeed.
Ms. Deiab holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute for Corporate Directors and has a Master’s Degree in Public Policy, specializing in Innovation, Science, and Energy Policy from Carleton University.
Byron House, P.Eng is a Chemical Engineer graduate from the University of New Brunswick with over 25 years of experience in the nuclear industry. Byron has held senior leader positions at Bruce Power in the areas Operations, Maintenance, Project Management, and Training. Most recently he has joined the Bruce Power major reactor component replacement team tasked with the life extension of the nuclear reactors on the Bruce site with the responsibility to shorten the project durations through reactor tooling innovations. Byron has reviewed operational and safety performance at several nuclear power plants around the world as an industry peer including United States, Ukraine, and China with a focus on safety culture and organizational effectiveness.
Caleb is a lawyer and safe work advocate. After losing his 18-year-old brother in a workplace accident, Caleb’s family started MySafeWork – a non-profit that seeks to educate and empower vulnerable workers.
Caleb previously worked as a legal aid lawyer in Toronto, representing individuals in a wide-range of cases involving workplace safety, human rights, and housing.
Caleb is the founder of Noiseprint Law, a law firm that supports creative people. He is also a partner at Kace Agency, where he helps mission-driven organizations increase their brand awareness and fundraising revenue.
Carolyn Wisdom is a Certified Industrial Hygienist, Environmental / Public Health Specialist, Canadian Registered Safety Professional, and Certified COR Auditor with Energy Safety Canada Ltd. She has over 30 years field experience in Industrial Hygiene. Carolyn started work with the State of Oregon where she was a Compliance Officer. She has also worked for Suncor Inc. and the Canadian Military. She taught Indoor Air Quality and other courses for the University of Alberta Health and Safety Certificate Program.
Most of her work has been as a Consultant operating out of Alberta. Some of her clients have included: Health Canada, the RCMP, the Canadian Military, the City of Camrose, and Atco to name a few.
Carolyn graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Environmental / Public Health. She also took the graduate program in Industrial Hygiene. She also holds an Honours Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology from Brock University. As well as a Master of Science in Fungal Cell Biology / Microbiology from the University of British Columbia.
Chris Davis is Manager, Training Delivery at Energy Safety Canada. In this role, he assists the oil and gas industry in the achievement of continuous improvement through the delivery of training initiatives.
His career spans thirty years in heavy haul and hoisting/rigging.
Chris completed OH&S studies with the University of Alberta in 2013 and CRSP designation in 2014.
Chris is the National Practice Leader for the OHS group at Pinchin Ltd. and has been a practicing OHS specialist for over 25 years. Along with his duties at Pinchin, he is also the Chair of the Fire Sub-council for the Alberta Safety Codes Council.
Christopher Nielsen, B.Sc., P. Geo. (Limited), QPESA, is a senior environmental, health and safety consultant and leader with more than 30 years of progressive experience in his field of expertise. Chris is an active volunteer, mentoring new professional geoscientists and is the past President of Muskies Canada Sport Fishing & Research Inc., a not-for-profit volunteer conservation organization.
Dan is the Director of Prevention Field Services in the Prevention Services division at WorkSafeBC. Prevention Services has a mandate to engage employers and workers to reduce risk and keep workplaces healthy and safe through education, consultation and enforcement in the Province of British Columbia.
Prior to his appointment at WorkSafeBC, Dan worked as the Manager Health and Safety at the Vancouver International Airport for 15 years.
From 2009 to 2010, Mr. Strand was President of the Canadian Registration Board of Occupational Hygienists. He was Director for the Western Provinces at the Canadian Registration Board of Occupational Hygienists from 2007 to 2009.
Dan is currently serving on the Board of Governors of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) representing the Province of British Columbia for a four year term effective December 2020.
Dave Gouthro Health & Safety Consulting registered as 3245627 Nova Scotia Limited is incorporated with $2 million Errors & Omissions, $5 million General Liability and $5 million Auto Insurance coverage with Dave as president and sole owner. His 30 plus years experience has taken him throughout Canada and abroad. He has the following professional designations; CRSP Canadian Registered Safety Professional, CHSC Certified Health and Safety Consultant, CHSO Construction Health and Safety Officer, GSO General Safety Officer, CSO, Construction Safety Officer and LEAD AUDITOR, ISO 9001:2000 Quality Systems.
Dave’s history includes review of existing and development of new programs for certification along with carrying out safety audits and being available on as needed bases to assist clients with their occupational health & safety.
Additional areas of expertise include incident investigation, training development and presentations for industry. Dave has success in assisting with provincial Occupational Health and Safety enforcement inspections and orders along with workers compensation claims management. While primarily in the construction industry he does work with non construction clients as well. Dave prides himself in fostering positive working relationships with stake holders in private and public sectors including unions.
He has safety awards from the Nova Scotia Construction Safety Association, “Safety Champion Role Model/Mentor Award” for consistent demonstration of outstanding safety excellence along with Lafarge Aggregates & Concrete, worldwide division 2008 awards program, for safety improvement. Dave represented the steel erectors industry in the development of the Nova Scotia Steel Erectors Code of Practice. He has given presentations at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia Community College, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters and Canadian Society of Safety Engineering. Dave is on the Editorial Advisory Board for Canadian Occupational Safety Magazine and is a current member of The Canadian Society of Safety Engineering.
David A.G. Meston, P.Eng. – President, H&S Consultants Inc. (H&S), Safety Engineer and Management Consultant since 1987. Dave uses a unique risk-based approach to safety management with a focus on “Safety by Design”. Prior to H&S he was an Electrical Design Engineer, Safety Engineer and Senior Manager with Ontario Hydro. He has over 40 years of experience in management and engineering.
Recent work has included design risk analysis for hydrogen, natural gas and other alternative energy projects including both semi-quantitative and quantitative methods for utility clients and equipment manufacturers. Additionally, he produces safety and emergency management system documentation for operational support to the above design projects (e.g. ISO 45001).
Dave is also a part time Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson) since 1996 teaching Business and Occupational Health and Safety. He has been a volunteer with Minerva Canada since 1993.
In his over 20-year safety career, David has held positions at well-known organizations and has earned a number of professional designations, as the letters after his name indicate.
David has experience working in many Canadian provinces and is well-versed in both Federal and Provincial safety and health legislations and regulations, particularly in the heavy construction, manufacturing and consulting industries. He has facilitated safety courses with particular expertise in confined space entry and fall protection. He has also conducted a number of site and hazard assessments and hazard analyses for companies not only in Canada but also internationally.
David holds such designations as a Canadian Registered Safety Professional, Certified Health and Safety Consultant, Construction Safety Officer and Certified Protection Officer. These designations speak to Dave’s commitment to excellence in safety consulting, loss prevention and hazard control. He is also a DNV Auditor, Certified COR Auditor and is Six- Sigma Certified.
David has occupied a diverse range of health, safety and security management positions during his career, many at large and well-known Canadian companies. He was the founder and original owner of National Safety Depot in Nova Scotia, a safety training and consulting firm dedicated to workplace injury prevention and loss control.
After selling National Safety Depot, David founded East Coast Loss Control, a company which employed a team of highly trained consultants and trainers with expertise particularly in confined space policy and procedures. Among other things, East Coast Loss Control worked with the RCMP across Canada training the police force in matters of dive safety. The organization also developed national dive safety regulations. The company was also contracted by the Nova Scotia Department of Labour to conduct accident investigations.
Since coming to Manitoba, David has worked at companies such as Maple Leaf Foods and the Royal Canadian Mint in such capacities as Health, Safety, Environmental and Security Manager. In his two most recent leadership positions before coming to SSM he has excelled in supporting high-volume, multi-plant operations employing thousands of people for the most demanding and highly regulated export markets in the world. David is currently the Director of Operations for SSM.
Dylan is Managing Director of The Redlands Group Inc., with more than 20 years of expertise as a business owner, Vice President Safety, Not-For-Profit Board Leader, and International Keynote Speaker. The Redlands Group provides client focused solutions that meets your Health, Safety, and Risk assurance needs. The team has the expertise to deliver results from Executive level strategy development to front-line staff training; right sized for your organization.
With his strong personal drive to pursue and achieve professional excellence, he not only works to excel in his professional development, but he also works to coach, mentor, and energize members of work groups to achieve their full potential. Dylan is a sought-after International Keynote Speaker delivering engaging messages focused on Management Systems, Influence, Change, and Risk Management. As a result of his professional and volunteer achievements, Dylan was awarded the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering’s highest award; the 2016 Safety Professional of the Year.
Ellaline Davies is the President of Safety Works Consulting Inc, an Ontario based firm.
She is a consultant with 20+ years of health and safety management system development and implementation over numerous sectors.
She is an ISO Registered Lead Auditor with Exemplar Global with specialties in Injury Management and OHS Management Systems Audits.
Erin Mills is the Associate Director of Workplace Health at The Conference Board of Canada. She guides the Board’s workplace health research initiatives and programs, and leads the Council on Workplace Health and Wellness, as well as the Centre for Health and Safety.
Erin can rely on more than 20 years of experience across the health, employment, and education sectors. Before joining the Conference Board, she held positions as the Director of Labour Market Information and HR Research for the Mining Industry Human Resources Council, and Director of Institutional Research at Seneca College.
Joe has been with Safety Services Nova Scotia, as OHS Director since 2007 and has worked in the safety and risk management field professionally since 1994.
Joe also serves on the CSA Z1001 (OHS Training) Technical Committee, and is a serving executive on the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering.
Louise Logan is an experienced senior executive working in the areas of public policy, organizational leadership, and strategy. She is currently the National Director for the XXII World Congress on Safety & Health at Work, and President of Logan & Associates Inc.
Louise’s professional experience includes President & CEO of the Public Services Health & Safety Association, inaugural president of a national injury prevention charity, and Director General of Policy and Regulation Development at WorkSafeBC. Louise is currently Board Governance Committee Chair, Workplace Safety & Prevention Services, past member of Ontario’s Rowan’s Law (Concussion) Advisory Committee and current Board Chair of Rowan’s Legacy Foundation.
Louise holds a Juris Doctor from University of British Columbia, a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto, and is a graduate of the Executive Program at the Ivey School of Business. She is currently completing her Master of Laws part-time at Osgoode Law School.
Marion Reeves is an experienced Workplace Wellness Consultant who specializes in creating unique, leading-edge program solutions for her client’s needs. She does this through an integrated, inclusive approach that contributes to building a comprehensive workplace health promotion strategy, valued by all stakeholders.
With over 35 years of delivering trend-setting activities to address the personal health practices and organizational culture engagement of employees in more than 30 companies, Marion has a depth of knowledge she enjoys sharing with small and large businesses. Her areas of specialization include shift workers, multi-site facilities, blended work environments, diversified staffing scenarios, and an understanding of first responder challenges.
Marion’s background includes a BSc in Kinesiology and 10 years teaching experience in Program Planning for the post-graduate Workplace Wellness and Health Promotion Program at Centennial College. During her career, Marion has been involved in helping to advance workplace health and wellness through active participation on many provincial and federal committees. She is a recipient of the Canadian Workplace Wellness Pioneer Award and was honoured for her achievements at The Better Workplace Conference.
Pamela is a Canadian Certified Professional Ergonomist (CCPE), a Fitwel Ambassador, and a Certified Master Wellness Ambassador (CMWA) . With over 25 years practicing and specializing in the fields of Ergonomics/ Human Factors and Employee Health and Wellness, she provides comprehensive Corporate consulting services including Assessment, Education/Training, and Program Development to both private and public sector organizations. She also holds Baccalaureate degrees in Occupational Therapy (Dalhousie University) and Psychology (Saint Mary’s University).
Pamela is a full member of the College for the Certification of Canadian Ergonomists (CCCPE) and the Association of Canadian Ergonomists (ACE). She is a Board Member of the Universal Design Network of Canada and is a Program Advisor at Wellness Works Canada and the Workplace Wellness Centre of Excellence.
Pamela and the Associate Team at Dempster Wellness are truly passionate about Employee Health and Wellness and its effects on workplace culture. They work collaboratively with employers and employees through change processes needed to make work environments and corporate culture safe, more productive, happy, and well!
Patrick Hauser has 20 years of experience in occupational health and safety. He’s been a Canadian Registered Safety Professional since 2010. For the past 15 years Patrick has worked at the University of Saskatchewan helping to facilitate continual improvement and to reduce injuries in many post-secondary educational and research environments. This includes specialized laboratories across campus, and developing safety plans for various field research and taught-abroad courses continually happening all around the world.
Since 2007 Patrick has actively volunteered for the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering (CSSE/HSPC) helping organize in-person, virtual and hybrid safety awareness events, mentoring new health and safety professionals, and supporting the annual Saskatoon Steps for Life Walk. He is grateful to know so many inspiring health and safety professionals from Saskatoon, the prairie region and across the country.
Peter Sturm, is a senior Safety, Health and Risk Management Executive with STURM Consulting Inc. His expertise includes health and safety, workers compensation, insurance, incident investigations, prevention and sustainability.
Peter is the co-author of the ASSP Accident Investigation Techniques – Best Practices for Examining Workplace Incidents which references the only consensus standard focusing on investigation incident, CSA Z1005-21, Workplace Incident Investigations
He teaches safety and incident investigations at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies, University of Fredericton and George Brown College.
His leadership roles include:
- Chair CSA Z1005 Incident Investigation Standard
- Past President, Canadian Society of Safety Engineering,
- Director & Executive Team member of Minerva Canada,
- BCRSP Governor
He holds the designations of CRSP, Professional Member (CSSE) & CHSC. This includes an EMBA, Global Leadership, is active with the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering & American Society of Safety Professionals.
He was awarded the CSSE Safety Professional of the Year in 2015, & Outstanding Service to CSSE/Volunteer of the Year in 2019.
I am an experienced HSEQ professional with demonstrated success in developing and implementing strategies and systems to address critical health and safety risks, impacts associated with social wellbeing, our environment and the communities we work within for over 20 years.
I have worked extensively in the resource industry throughout Canada, Australia, Asia and South America, with exposure to various stages of the mining life cycle. I have also benefitted from working within a customer service business with significant environmental and social impacts in Europe.
Robin Angel MSc. CRSP, is a safety professional with over 30 years’ experience in occupational health & safety (OHS). Robin has a Master of Science degree from Royal Roads University (British Columbia) and a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Guelph (Ontario) and Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) Certification from Queens University (Ontario).
Robin has worked in chemical manufacturing, oil and gas exploration, oil refinery operations, manufacturing, and provincial and federal governments in the areas of safety, occupational hygiene, international auditing of safety, environmental and quality management systems. Robin has instructed university courses in Industrial Hygiene, Measurement & Analysis, Occupational Health, Safety Systems and Risk Management.
Robin is currently employed with the Nova Scotia Department of Justice as Strategic Advisor Occupational Health and Safety with the oversight of 4 adult facilities and 1 youth centre. In 2022 Robin was given the Canadian Occupational Safety Top Woman in Safety award and she was presented with the Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Medal in recognition of significant service to the province and service during COVID.
For more than 20 years, Rod Cook has been a leader in business transformation in both the private and public sectors.
Currently, Rod is the Vice President of Workplace Health and Safety Services at the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). He oversees all aspects of workplace health and safety programs at the WSIB, with a focus on being at the forefront of innovation and creating a culture of health and safety in Ontario. In 2019, he led the launch of a digital-first program; the Health and Safety Excellence program (HSEp), which provides a clear roadmap for businesses to improve their health and safety culture and practices leading to injury and illness avoidance. Shortly after the launch of HSEp, the team received an international recognition by winning a Bronze Stevie award for Sales and Customer Service, under the COVID-19 response category.
Before joining Workplace Health and Safety Services, Rod spent four years as the WSIB’s Vice President of Human Resources. Under Rod’s leadership, the WSIB was awarded the Mental Health at Work Silver Level certification from Excellence Canada.
In 2018, Rod was awarded with the Morley Gunderson Prize by the University of Toronto to recognize and honour his outstanding professional achievement and service to the Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources. Most recently, Rod was appointed to the Prevention Council to provide advice to the Minister and Chief Prevention Officer.
Rod serves on multiple Board of Directors including National Institute of Disability Management and Research, the Pacific Coast University for Workplace Health Sciences and Excellence Canada.
Rod has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Concordia University and a Master’s degree in Industrial Relations from University of Toronto. Rod also earned the Canadian Registered Safety Professional (CRSP)® designation in 2020.
Shelley Poirier has 19 years of experience in the field of construction safety.
Shelley’s passion is to foster the growth of a health and safety culture across the industry. She has been invited to speak at numerous conferences and events in the Maritimes.
Shelley holds a BSc from Dalhousie University and the Construction Safety and Gold Seal Safety Coordinator Designations.
Joined Imperial Oil, Sarnia Refinery in 1978. During a38 years career in Refining and Chemicals in Imperial Oil, ExxonMobil and ExxonMobilJVsin Thailand and Saudi Arabia,I was responsible for technical support and leadership in Process Design, OperationsSupport,OperationsIntegrity,Process Safetyand OI Audits.
Retired in 2016. Final position was Process Safety Group Leader in Kemya Petrochemical Complex –a Joint Venture of ExxonMobil and SABIC in Jubail, Saudi Arabia.
Joined Minerva Canada in 2016 as a volunteer member in Minerva’s Working Group.
Veronica Suszynski is a Portfolio Leader at SAFE Work Manitoba in the Support Services Portfolio, which provides service to all Manitoba employers in the areas of occupational hygiene, musculoskeletal injuries and preventing young worker injuries. The Support Services Portfolio was part of the team that created the Young Worker Injury Prevention Strategy in an effort to reduce young worker injuries in Manitoba.
Veronica is a member of CSSE and has completed the CHSC designation. She has worked for the WCB for over 30 years and during her career has held a variety of positions including: payment assessor, adjudicator and case manager. As a case manager, Veronica helped many workers who suffered serious workplace injuries. It is Veronica’s hope that her work will help reduce the number of workplace injuries in Manitoba and make our province a safer place for all workers.
Yvonne O’Reilly, the owner of O’Reilly Health & Safety Consulting, is based in Stratford, Ontario. She assists organizations in effectively implementing their OHS management system by providing due diligence & awareness training, compliance audits, and JHSC workshops.
Yvonne is a Canadian Registered Safety Professional (CRSP), and is an instructor for the University of Toronto, School of Continuing Studies as part of the Human Resources and OHS certificate programs.
Her professional commitment has led her to become involved in several organizations to foster and promote the OHS profession. In addition to serving as a judge for Canada’s Safest Employer awards, she has chaired the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering (CSSE) national North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week Committee and served three terms on the Governing Board of the BCSRP. She has been a presenter at national conferences and has chaired conferences for Bongarde Media and Lancaster House.
