Dear AWARE-NS Stakeholders,
As you may know, AWARE-NS was created in 2009 as a provincial not-for-profit registered society. Its mission is to work with industry stakeholders and partners to promote and improve safety and health for workers in health care and community services workplaces. The Department of Health and Wellness has commissioned an operational and stakeholder review of AWARE-NS with Stylus Consulting / Wayfinder Consulting selected as the independent consulting firm to conduct the review. The goal is to inform how to effectively provide quality programs and services to the health and community services workforce that are strategic, sustainable, accountable, and supported by the industry/sector.
Your feedback is critical. You are invited to take a few minutes to complete the following on-line survey.
There are 14 questions, and the survey can be completed in under 10 minutes. Please be sure to press the ‘Submit’ button at the end of the survey. Please note that all responses will remain confidential and individual responses will not be identifiable. The feedback received will be consolidated into an aggregate data file for purposes of analysis and interpretation.
If you wish to provide feedback beyond the survey, please contact me directly at:
email: [email protected]
phone: 902-457-2433
mobile: 902-233-2306
Thank you for participating. We value your feedback and your time, and look forward to hearing from you.
Susan E. Smith, BSc, MBA, FCCHL, CHSRF EXTRA Fellow
AWARE-NS Project Lead
Stylus Consulting/Wayfinder Consulting Incorporated
86 Main Avenue
Halifax, NS B3M 1A7
Canada
tel: 902.457.2433
fax: 902.443-6098
email: [email protected]
website: www.wayfinderconsulting.ca
Day: July 15, 2013
Deadline: Friday September 13, 2013
The Nominating Committee of AWARE-NS, the Nova Scotia Health and Community Services Safety Association, is seeking nominations for the following Board positions that have become available at the Annual General Meeting, on June 20, 2013:
- 1 District Health Authority representative;
- 1 Community Care representative; and
- 1 Front Line Worker representatives
We Want Your Opinion!
We asked Heather Matthews, OHS Specialist with AWARE-NS and Carol Rhynold, RN, BScN, RN Supervisor for Guysborough County Home Support Agency their opinion on what traits make a good Safety Manager, and the best places to obtain OHS resources in Nova Scotia. Be sure to weigh in and add your opinion to the “comments” section below this article.
What are the best characteristics in a safety professional?
- Knowledge/experience
- Good communication skills
- Positive attitude
- Integrity
- Persistence
- Patience
What are the top tools/sites you would direct a new safety professional to?
- Department of Labour and Advanced Education
- Applicable Industry Association (Construction Safety Association, Safety Services NS, COSP, etc)
- Safety Associations (AWARE-NS)
- WCB
- Networking with as many safety professional as you can
- The Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety (resources rich) http://www.ccohs.ca/
Chris Goudge, a Canadian Registered Safety Professional in the health care sector went on to add that “the OHS pro needs to not only have a well rounded and current knowledge of safety regulations, rules and best practices but they must also have knowledge of their workplace and the process within. The connection must be made between the OHS requirements and the process. Another important skill is their ability to build and maintain relationships. OHS pros are required to interact with people at all levels of an organization, from the front line worker to the board of directors and everyone in between. Being able to establish relationships will assist in developing credibility, increase organizational knowledge and challenges and aid in obtaining buy in for safety initiatives. Communication Skills are likely the most important skill of a successful safety professional. All of the knowledge and expertise is useless unless you can effectively share this with the people that need to know. Having the ability to adjust your language and approach depending on the audience is critical and being able to connect with staff is essential in creating a safety culture”.
