Please Note: All sessions, speakers, events, times and descriptions are subject to change without notice. Pacific Safety Center Ltd reserves the right to limit quantities and to correct errors or omissions. For the latest information and updates please check the home page.

Photography & Film Footage Will Be Taken During This Event
Please be advised that a photographer and videographer will be attending the Western Conference on Safety. By entering the conference your image may be included in some shots. If you do not wish to be included be identify yourself to the photographer/videographer and so indicate your wishes to them. Otherwise your presence here will constitute your consent to being photographed and/or video’ed and your acknowledgement that such photography/film may be used for promotional, archival or media purposes.

Scent Friendly:
Scent Friendly: The Western Conference on Safety is a scent-free environment. In consideration of others, please “scent-sitive” and reduce or avoid your use of perfume or other personal scents. Your fellow conference attendees will appreciate you for it.

Session Descriptions:

Monday April 14, 2025

7:00am: Registration & Tradeshow Open

8:30 – 9:00am: Welcome and Opening Remarks: (Regency Ballroom “D”, 3rd Floor)

Master of Ceremonies: Tanya Steele, R(CSO), CSS, CHSC TR Steele Company and Richard Dulong, CHSC, Northern Sun Safety Inc.
Welcoming Remarks by: Todd McDonald, Head of Prevention Services, WorkSafeBC and Conference Chair, Mary Moltman, Conference Chair,

9:00 – 10:00am

Keynote Presentation: Safety, Its About The Little Things Leading and Inspiring A Culture of Safety by: Joe Roberts

In this keynote, Joe explores the connection between mental safety and physical safety and shares how anyone can connect their personal purpose to safer behaviour. As Joe walks the audience through his first poor choice and how it led to a journey of degradation and despair, they will understand why people make unsafe decisions and how they can intentionally build physically and mentally safer workplaces with every small decision.

10:00 – 10:30am

Safety Tradeshow and Coffee Break

10:30 – 11:45am

Session 2A:
Future Risk Analysis: How Do We Manage/Advise on Safety When Tech Outpaces Organizational Capacity
Session Description to Follow
Speaker: Mary-Frances Zielinski

Session 2B:
Anatomy of a Successful Safety Campaign
The in-depth work experience and untapped creativity in our own teams fuels many of the best safety ideas. With the right training and support, the employees who do the jobs day in and day out are by far the best equipped to identify hazards and collaborate in the design of effective solutions. In this session, we look at home-grown safety campaigns designed by a B.C. business and what makes them work. Explore new ideas, and take away inspiration to be more innovative in your own programs.
Speaker: Tanya Tighe, Manager, Health and Safety, ICBC

Session 2C:
Psychological Health & Safety:
Description to Follow
Speaker: BC Fed Health & Safety Centre Staff

Session 2D:
An Intro to Hazard ID & Risk Assessments
A key role for safety committees, supervisors, managers and others is to understand and contribute to their company’s hazard assessment process. They should know how to identify hazards and properly assess and rate the risks associated with those hazards. This way they can feel comfortable knowing the most serious ones can be dealt with first. Most have little if any education or training to help them in this critical task. Come learn how to identify hazards and assess the risks associated with them so you can put this skill set into practice at your workplace right away.
Speaker: Richard Dulong, Northern Sun Safety Inc.

11:45am – 1:15pm

Safety Tradeshow and Lunch (On Own For Lunch)

1:15 – 2:45pm

Session 3A:
Investigations Done Differently
The focus of this presentation will be to explore the contrasting approaches between regulatory investigations and employer-side investigations in workplace safety, and on how employer investigations can prioritize learning and continuous improvement over mere compliance. We will discuss common misconceptions about accident investigations, particularly the tendency to treat them as regulatory or legal exercises, and instead emphasize their role in preventing future incidents through practical insights and actionable learning. Drawing on local and international standards, we will highlight how shifting the focus to learning from mistakes can make workplaces safer and improve the outcomes of many investigation methodologies. Attendees will leave with practical takeaways on how to evolve their investigation processes for more meaningful, safety-driven outcomes.
Speaker: Jeff Lyth (Learning Teams Inc) & Bruce Jackson Advocate OHS)

Session 3B:
Understanding the Changes to CSA Z259 Fall Arrest Equipment
Does your company use CSA approved Fall Protections products? There were numerous changes to the standard CSA Z259 in early 2020 but many people missed the information due to the pandemic. This session will review the changes that were implemented to CSA Z259 that are reflected in the in the current approved products that companies are acquiring today. This session will shine a light on these changes and how these changes have impacted fall arrest products available for purchase in Canada and their applications in the workplace.
Speaker: Brad Young, 3M Personal Safety, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Session 3C:
How AI Has Completely Compromised High-Risk Safety Training

This session will demonstrate how emerging, AI-based technologies have impacted online health and safety training, and compromised its validity as an administrative control. We’ll discuss the potential implications of this, and some of the ways both training organizations and regulatory standards are mitigating risk in response.

Learning Outcomes

Understand the profound impact AI, particularly GPT, has on the integrity of high-risk safety training.
Recognize the ways in which AI can undermine training effectiveness, leading to potential safety risks.
Learn about new regulatory standards and expectations developed to counteract these challenges and safeguard training integrity.

Speaker: Darcy Chalifoux, Senior Solutions Specialist, Integrity Advocate

Session 3D:
Workplace Violence Prevention & De-escalation
This unique and engaging workplace violence presentation de-escalation safety seminar shares real world skills to safely respond to the continuum of client and customer conflict, from low level agitation through to verbal abuse, aggression, and escalated in-person threats.
Speaker: Haley Whishaw, Training Specialist, Arete Training

2:45 – 3:15pm

Safety Tradeshow and Coffee Break (Tradeshow Closes at 3:30pm)

3:15 – 4:30pm

Session 4A:
Difficult Conversations: The Basics:
All of us need to have conversations with our direct reports and colleagues about work, whether that is how we work together or what needs to be done. For many of us these conversations are awkward and difficult. An d yet they are the responsibility of supervisors so they can direct work and give feedback for achieving the goals of the organization. This presentation will focus on how to have these conversations in ways that increase the likelihood the other persons behaviour will meet the organizations and teams expectations while still maintaining a positive relationship.
Speaker: Janet Schmit & Associates, Winnipeg Manitoba

Session 4B:
Critical Aspects of Leadership Influence on Effective Management of Safety:
This session explores how leadership competencies and engagement directly influence organizational safety culture and performance. We’ll present a systematic approach to developing safety leadership, including practical tools and methodologies for:
-Identifying and establishing core safety leadership competencies
-Creating targeted development pathways
-Implementing measurement systems for leadership engagement
-Building sustainable safety culture through effective leadership
Attendees will gain actionable insights for strengthening their organization’s safety leadership capabilities and measuring their effectiveness.
Speaker: Roger Bresden

Session 4C:
Managing Safety in Multi-Cultural Workplaces

Delves into the intersection of cultural diversity and safety practices. This session equips you with strategies to address the unique safety challenges of a diverse workforce, emphasizing the critical role of tailored safety plans. Discover how cultural factors influence safety perceptions and responses, and learn actionable strategies to enhance communication and compliance across cultural boundaries.

Whether you’re a frontline supervisor, safety coordinator, or manager, this presentation offers practical insights into hiring, onboarding, and managing on-the-job safety for newcomer workers. With strategies that include language and literacy solutions and culturally adaptive safety training, you’ll gain tools to enhance inclusivity and effectively mitigate risks.

Engage with research-backed content that highlights the increased risks faced by newcomer workers and explore systematic approaches to reduce these risks. The goal of this session is for you to reflect on your current practices and leave with a renewed commitment to ensuring equitable safety standards for all employees.
Speaker: Iqbal Brar, CRSP, CHSC, CUSP, NCSO, President/Principal Consultant, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Session 4D:
Getting Action on Safety Committee Recommendations:
The fastest way to discourage ideas and participation in your safety committee is to rack up a list of recommendations with no response. In this session, learn new strategies to get your ideas heard, to make your case effectively, and get commitment from company leadership.
Speaker: Terri Downton, Employers Advisor

Tuesday April 15, 2025

7:00am

Registration and Safety Tradeshow Open

8:30- 9:45am

Session 6A
Beyond the Shadows: Master Gray Fleet Risk Management
In this enlightening session, we venture into the world of Grey Fleet, addressing vital questions: Are some of your most vulnerable workers adequately protected? When your employees utilize personal vehicles for work purposes, they become integral parts of the Grey Fleet. It’s crucial to recognize that, in these instances, their vehicles are not merely modes of transportation but serve as extensions of the workplace. As an employer, you bear the responsibility of ensuring and demonstrating comprehensive measures are in place to minimize risks, both to your employees and the public, arising from at-work personal vehicle operation.

Sunny Jhaj, an expert in road safety, brings together his extensive experience to provide you with valuable insights, strategies, and practical solutions to effectively understand and manage Grey Fleet challenges. By the end of this session, you’ll not only comprehend the nuances of Grey Fleet but also be empowered to implement strategies that minimize exposure and risk effectively. Join us in this essential session and embark on the journey to better understand, navigate, and master Grey Fleet risk management. Your employees’ safety and your organization’s well-being are at the forefront of this exploration.
Speaker: Sunny Jhaj, Thinking Driver, Surrey, BC

Session 6B:
Workplace Safety Inspections:
Looking for tips on how to conduct your safety inspections? Trying to get more participation or response from the people in your workplace? This is the session for you. Learn how to plan and conduct successful safety inspections, rate hazards and get advice on implementation. This is a great session for safety committees, supervisors or anyone responsible for doing safety inspections in the workplace.
Speaker: Isabel Krueger, Safety Matters, Burnaby, BC

Session 6C
Three Approaches to Reducing Serious Injuries & Fatalities
Over the last decade, there’s been a disturbing trend when it comes to safety. Recordable injury rates have steadily been declining but the rate of serious injuries and fatalities (SIFs) have remained flat or are increasing. Could “Zero Harm” initiatives be making this situation worse by diluting the focus of improvement strategies away from what really matters? This session will take a look at three different strategies for improving what is arguably an organization’s most important safety performance metric and discuss their effectiveness.
Speaker: Don Wilson, Chief Client Officer, SafeStart

Session 6D
Update on WorkSafeBC’s Regulatory Changes
Description to Follow
Speaker: WorkSafeBC Staff (Invited)

9:45 – 10:15am Coffee Break and Tradeshow

10:15 – 11:30am

Session 7A:
Healthy Employees Are Good for Business
Ever had someone show up for work so tired they can’t follow instructions? What if someone on your team is frequently calling in sick or just not showing up? Is stress an issue at home and it gets brought to work? If anyone on your team has a hidden illness, are you able to accommodate them? While there are limits to what an employer should be expected to do, there are ways to support your team members to be more productive and capable of showing up every day. You aren’t expected to be a counsellor, physician, dietician, kinesiologist or anything specific, but there are some factors you can control to help your team be productive and motivated. This workshop will help you understand characteristics about your work environment that may be influencing your employees’ productivity and how you can make a positive change to keep your team healthy and engaged.
Speaker: Wendy Bennett, Executive Director, AgSafe, Langley, BC

Session 7B:
Putting HOP Into Action: Integrating HOP and Learning Teams Into Your Audited SMS
In this presentation, we will explore the integration of Human and Organizational Performance (HOP) principles and Learning Teams into ISO and COR-based safety management systems. This session will highlight how HOP’s emphasis on learning and understanding everyday work aligns with the structured, compliance-oriented frameworks of ISO and COR.
By embedding Learning Teams into safety management, organizations can move beyond mere compliance to foster a culture of continuous learning and resilience. Practical examples will show how integrating these approaches enhances operational learning, mitigates human error, and strengthens safety outcomes.
Attendees will gain insights into actionable steps for merging these methodologies, improving both safety performance and employee engagement. We will also discuss the role of HOP’s principles in reshaping traditional incident investigations, turning them into proactive learning opportunities that feed into ISO and COR requirements for ongoing improvement.
This presentation is ideal for safety professionals looking to incorporate innovative safety management practices within established regulatory frameworks.
Speaker: Jeff Lyth, Learning Teams Inc.

Session 7C:
Supervisors – Know Your Responsibilities & Your Risks
While employers have broad general duties to ensure workplace health and safety, much of that work will be accomplished through front line supervisors. Increasingly, how supervision was performed is at the forefront of regulator and police investigations following any serious workplace incident. In that context, demonstrating effective supervision is key to an employer’s due diligence defence. However, supervisors themselves may face scrutiny in how they have fulfilled their duties, with many of recent health and safety related prosecutions being against supervisors. In this context, Graeme will discuss the duties of employers to provide necessary supervision, how those duties have been interpreted by tribunals and the courts, and how all workplace parties can effectively mitigate risks of prosecution following an incident.
Speaker: Graeme Hooper, Counsel, MLG Law Corporation, Vancouver, BC

Session 7D:
Foundations of Mental Health & Well Being
Mental health has become a leading health concern in North America, within both our personal lives and in the workplace. Although there is a growing recognition of the importance of protecting and bolstering our mental health, there is less information about the specific actionable steps to do so. Dr. Legg’s talk provides foundational information about what mental health is, what impacts our mental health and why it can change over time, as well as how to discuss mental health in a way that is appropriate and inclusive to those in our lives and within the workplace. Dr. Legg’s talk also provides actionable tools and concrete steps around what we can do to immediately start protecting and promoting our mental health. This talk provides audience members with the knowledge and tools to understand their own mental health, be sensitive to others’ mental health, increase their mental health and boost wellness intelligence. This foundational talk serves as a launchpad for attendees to engage with Dr. Legg’s Mental Health for Teams talk, and other more specific talks on wellness (e.g., stress management). Dr. Legg’s talk ensures that attendees are equipped with the basic knowledge that they need to begin maximizing their wellbeing.

After this talk, attendees will be able to…

Understand what mental health is and be able to describe it to others
Be knowledgeable of the key factors that impact mental health
Know how to discuss mental health in a way that is empathic, informed and appropriate
Take initial steps in bolstering mental health and maximizing one’s ability to thrive

Speaker: Dr. Nicole Legg, PhD, WellIntel Talks , Vancouver, BC

11:30– 12:45pm

Safety Tradeshow and Lunch (On own for Lunch, Tradeshow Closes at 12:45pm)

12:45pm – 2:00pm Super Sessions

Super Session 8A:
Safety In The Age of AI: Rethinking Due Diligence for Tomorrows Challenges
Embark on a journey through the evolving legal landscape of safety with Iqbal Brar, where past lessons guide our path forward. This presentation goes beyond the basics, combining elements of law, history, and technology to help you prepare for the future of safety and compliance.

In this session, we’ll explore how the legal history of safety informs the future, focusing on the intersection of law and technology. We’ll discuss the implications for individuals and decision-makers within organizations, not just to keep pace with current standards but to lead in adopting emerging technologies that could redefine safety benchmarks. This presentation isn’t just about compliance—it’s about being proactive and innovative in your approach to safety. Expect a dynamic, engaging exploration that will leave you informed and inspired to future-proof your operations.
Speaker: Iqbal Brar, CRSP, CHSC, CUSP, NCSO, President/Principal Consultant, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Super Session 8B:
Eyes Wide Shut: We Don’t Have A Fatigue Program
Fatigue is a chameleon. It disguises itself as a rules violation, a lapse of attention, non-compliance, or more often, “human error”. Organizations deal with the consequences of fatigue-related errors and incidents on a regular basis without even knowing it. It is time to open our eyes to see how fatigue lurks not only in our workers, but hidden in the design and management of our work system. This session will provide a review of how one company developed their fatigue risk management program from scratch, and the surprising results.
Speaker Mike Harnett: Solaris Fatigue Management, White Rock, BC

2:00 – 2:15 pm Room Change

2:15 – 3:30 pm

Closing Keynote: How To Tame Your Elephant! Safety Leadership for the Unexpected by Allan James Moore, CRSP
When emergency situations arise, safety leadership is needed to direct your organization towards the safest possible outcome. And this is not just true of positional leaders such as managers, but of all employees playing a role in the emergency. For example: a front-line worker should feel empowered to stop an unsafe act from being performed by a manager. In this keynote or interactive workshop, Allan shares a vivid, hilarious, yet terrifying story about being charged by elephants in Africa where the characters involved seem to take on three different safety leadership roles of “the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”. Allan likens this event to workplace emergency situations and explores how we might better prepare our personnel to make better choices when confronted with emergencies and become better safety leaders in our day-to-day execution of our safety duties.

3:30 pm – Conference Concludes

_______________________________________________________________________________

Post- Conference Courses:

Wednesday April 16, 2025

8:30am – 4:30

Course PC-1
Fundamentals for Joint Health and Safety Committees Course
This course is ideal for new safety committee members needing to comply with WorkSafeBC’s Safety Committee Member training regulations as well as existing members looking to upgrade their safety knowledge and skills. If your organization is setting up its first safety committee or looking to makes its existing committee more effective, this one day course is just what you need.

Topics include: applying the process of safety inspections and accident investigations, participating in constructive committee meetings, helping your committee work together and much more.

Fees: TBA
Early Bird (on or before March 13, 2025): $265.00
Regular (after March 13, 2025): $295.00
GST extra

Course PC-2 (One Day)
Accident/Incident Investigation Course
Great course for safety committee members, supervisors or anyone who is required to conduct and/or review accidents and incidents in the workplace. It will help you to effectively investigate accidents with the objective of reducing or preventing future accidents. This is one of our most popular courses.
Fees:
Early Bird (on or before March 13, 2025): $295.00
Regular (after March 13, 2025): $395.00
GST extra

Course PC-3 (One Day)
Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment Course
A fundamental concept in managing occupational health and safety (and also in many WorkSafeBC’s regulations) is the recognition, assessment and control of hazards. The process is commonly referred to as Hazard Identification or Risk Assessment. But how do you determine what is a hazard and how do you find hidden hazards before someone gets hurt? This course will assist you in recognizing and rating the severity of workplace hazards and explore common strategies for controlling them. A great course for supervisors, managers and safety committee members.
Fees:
Early Bird (on or before March 13, 2025): $295.00
Regular (after March 13, 2025): $395.00
GST extra

Course PC-4
Supervisors Safety Training Course
Supervisors are arguably the most influential people in preventing workplace incidents and injuries. But only if they understand their key role and have the specific skills needed to follow through on that understanding. If they don’t or worse, have never been taught how to supervisor for safety as part of the job, then accidents and injuries nearly always follow. This jam-packed one day course guides new or experienced supervisors through the fundamentals they need to ensure safety on the job.
Fees:
Early Bird (on or before March 13, 2025): $295.00
Regular (after March 13, 2025): $395.00
GST extra

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Program

2025 Program Schedule

Monday, April 14, 2025: Conference Day One

Tuesday April 15, 2025 Conference Day Two

Wednesday April 16, 2025 (Post-conference professional development courses)