Culture of Care Safety Summit

Keynote speaker Gord Winkel discusses what it takes to become a safety champion.

The 2024 Culture of Care Safety Summit is in the books! Held on January 24, the one-day event is sure to leave an impact on the nearly 200 attendees who filled Lister Centre’s Maple Leaf Room.

President Bill Flanagan kicked off the event noting that it was only at the last Safety Summit event in December 2022 that Human Resources, Health, Safety and Environment unveiled the University of Alberta’s three-year safety action plan, A Culture of Care.

Last year’s work focused on leadership and other foundational initiatives to set the stage for years two and three.

“From leadership commitments to refreshed safety training, to new recognition, reward and reporting programs, we achieved so much in year 1 of the safety action plan — and that includes this Safety Summit,” said Marcie Chisholm, Associate Vice-President, HRHSE. “This event brought together safety leaders from many different departments, which in my view, really showcases the university's commitment to safety as a collective responsibility. If they feel like I do, then we’ll all come away from the event inspired and motivated to contribute actively to the ongoing Culture of Care as we enter year 2.”

The university is now working towards “changing the mindset” on safety and transforming how we think about and conduct work, research and learning. The Culture of Care encompasses all three aspects of safety — physical, psychological, and cultural — and the safety leaders in attendance at the event are primed to share knowledge gained on these elements to peers and coworkers; at the end of the day, everyone owns their safety performance and that of others.  

HSE Committee Award

While event attendees heard from session speakers about how we’re being innovative in our safety efforts, two portfolios were recognized for their impressive efforts to solve safety challenges in their unique environments and their creative approaches to promoting safety initiatives. The Faculty of Engineering and Library and Museums were jointly given the 2023 HSE Committee Award by Todd Gilchrist, Vice-President, University Services and Finance, to close out the Safety Summit.

Congratulations to the well-deserved HSE Committee Award winners and thanks to all those who put together the 2024 Safety Summit as well as those who attended.

Look forward to next year’s Safety Summit when safety leaders from across the community will gather to share the successes we’ll achieve as we continue to help improve safety across the U of A community.

The University of Alberta is committed to the safety, health and well-being of our faculty, staff and students. Every day, we advance this commitment to safety through the Culture of Care.