Building on a long-standing relationship, the Ontario General Contractors Association has signed a memorandum of understanding with Caledon-based safety guru Dan Padden.
Health and Safety
Building on a long-standing relationship, the Ontario General Contractors Association has signed a memorandum of understanding with Caledon-based safety guru Dan Padden.
OGCA members will be entitled to a free initial consultation with Padden, who retired from the Construction Safety Association of Ontario (CSAO) in June after nearly 29 years of service. He now heads Construction Safety Solutions. Thereafter, members can avail themselves of Padden’s services at a discounted rate.
Services include a range of customized health and safety-related seminars, program analysis and evaluation, consultation, design and development, audit preparation and third-party audits.
“Safety is one of our highest priorities,” said OGCA president Clive Thurston.
The association hopes to hire a full-time health and safety professional within the next three years.
Padden will participate in OGCA safety committee activities, work with the association to develop a series of management safety programs and represent it at industry events.
“We are particularly excited about the possibility of being represented on the technical committee of the Canadian Federation of Construction Safety Associations (CFCSA),” Thurston said. The OGCA has requested a seat on that committee and nominated Padden as its representative.
During his career at CSAO, Padden had a variety of roles which encompassed everything from acting as a field consultant in the Kitchener-Waterloo area to managing special projects, including safety groups, in construction.
He spearheaded the design and development of the CSAO’s construction health and safety audit. He was part of the CFCSA team which negotiated a national health and safety construction audit agreement.
Padden’s relationship with OGCA dates back 25 years. He played an instrumental role in establishment of the association’s first formal safety committee and helped develop the OGCA’s health and safety manual.
“I know these people (OGCA members) pretty well,” Padden said.
OGCA member firms account for an estimated 60 per cent of ICI construction in the province.
“Therefore, collectively they have the ability to positively affect change in the health and safety culture in construction workplaces,” Padden said.
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