This year’s Partners in Prevention Health and Safety Conference and trade show will explore the shifting landscapes in health and safety and the challenges of staying ahead of the curve.
“What we’re seeing in Canada is the health and safety landscape is constantly changing, whether that’s new legislation, innovations in technology or quality and safety standards. Then you couple that with changing demographics and the need to have changing workplace cultures and today’s health and safety community is really challenged,” explained Lynn Brownell, president and CEO of Workplace Safety and Prevention Services (WSPS), which puts on the event.
“The whole idea of the conference this year is really engaging hearts and minds. We’re still focusing on the traditional aspects, the physical harm prevention and some current priorities, but also looking at some new and emerging hazards through the perspective of the changing world and the changing workplace.”
Partners in Prevention, created by WSPS, is Canada’s largest and longest-running health and safety conference and trade show. It will take place May 1 and 2 at The International Centre in Mississauga, Ont.
The conference features two days of keynote speakers, more than 70 sessions, workshops and professional development courses, and over 400 booths on the trade show floor with the latest in market trends, products and services for the health and safety profession. Highlights include a WHMIS Escape Room, the healthy living pavilion, a distracted driving pavilion, a virtual reality display and a high-risk display focusing on working at heights, transporting dangerous goods and working in confined spaces.
For the first time this year there will also be a Bring Safety Home booth.
“What we’ve done with our research is discovered that the most influential stakeholder in dealing with preparing young workers or young people as they head into the work world is the parents,” said Brownell. “We’ve developed a website and it’s full of resources. The whole premise is we have a lot of other people developing and putting content on that website that allows parents to have conversations to prepare kids to enter the workplace.”
Sessions applicable to construction are once again being offered this year, examining WSIB compliance, what it takes to work safely at heights, working around overhead wires, manganese and welding as well as how to survive and thrive during an inspection, to name a few.
Three extended sessions are also being offered at Partners in Prevention 2018 to educate employers on the changes and implications involved in responding to the legalization of marijuana, which is anticipated in July.
“The sessions that we’re offering explore the legislative impacts in the workplace…looking at it from all angles and hoping that employers, health and safety folks and even leaders, can understand the full picture and how they need to address it going forward,” Brownell explained.
On May 1, a panel discussion entitled Legal Access to Marijuana: The Workplace Impact, Why It Matters and How to Manage It, will help employers understand the changes and will provide guidance on how to manage these challenges in safety sensitive industries, states a release issued by Partners in Prevention.
On the same day, an interactive workshop on Managing Addictions: Stress and Mental Wellbeing will focus on the ability to recognize when someone is experiencing personal hardships.
On May 3 WSPS will host a post-event half-day workshop, Marijuana and the Workplace: Managing the Impact of Legalization and Policy Development. The interactive content will help employers understand the coming change of marijuana access and promote a drug-safe workplace, adds the release.
The opening keynote at Partners in Prevention on May 1 will be Seth Mattison, billed as a trend spotter and workforce strategist. The lunch keynote is Dr. Greg Wells, CTV sport science analyst, human physiologist and author.
Amanda Lindhout, kidnap survivor, journalist and bestselling author of A House in the Sky, will be the morning keynote on May 2. The lunch keynote that day will be singer-songwriter Dave Carroll.
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