AGENDA
This event contains 5 hours and 25 minutes of CPD hours. Delegates will submit their own CPD applications to BCRSP.
08:45 – 9:00 AM
Opening Remarks from the Chair
Lee-Anne Lyon-Bartley
Vice President, Health Safety Environment, Dexterra
09:00 – 9:30 AM
Opening Keynote: A Personal Journey of Resilience and the Human Side of Safety
A powerful, personal narrative setting an inspiring tone. This keynote focuses on a real-world journey of resilience, extracting actionable lessons for safety professionals on overcoming adversity, leading with empathy, and the human impact of safety.
09:35 – 10:15 AM
Opening Panel: Are We Safe or Just Compliant? The Urgent Shift to Risk-Based Intervention
For decades, traditional safety programs have relied on a "tick-box" compliance mentality that creates a false sense of security but often fails to prevent real-world incidents. This opening panel challenges the status quo by exploring the urgent, strategic shift from reactive rule-following to proactive, risk-based intervention. Join our experts as they unpack how to elevate safety from basic regulatory checklists into a dynamic enterprise risk strategy that truly protects your workforce.
- Discuss the hidden dangers of relying solely on minimum regulatory standards and trailing indicators.
- Learn the critical role of leaders in driving the cultural shift toward proactive, root-cause risk identification.
- Explore practical ways to translate risk-based safety interventions into daily operational habits that resonate with frontline teams.
Nick Sampath
Sr. Manager, Environmental Health & Safety, Ingram Micro Inc.
Shilo Neveu
EVP, Health, Safety & Environment, Valard
Virginie Tremblay
National Director, Health & Safety Management Systems, Canada Post
10:15 – 10:35 AM
Break
10:35 – 11:15 AM
Breakout session A
Under the Microscope: The New Legal Realities of Safety Investigations
When a safety incident occurs, the investigation is no longer just an internal review; it is a highly scrutinized event. This session delves into the evolving legal landscape, highlighting how new regulatory expectations shift the burden of proof onto organizations. Attendees will gain practical insights for managing investigations that uncover root causes while withstanding intense legal scrutiny.
- Understand how the latest regulatory changes directly impact the legal liabilities of your investigations
- Learn the role of leaders in ensuring frontline incident data is accurately captured and legally sound
- Explore strategies for conducting internal reviews that identify root causes without creating unnecessary legal exposure
10:35 – 11:15 AM
Breakout session B
Panel: The Inclusive Front Line – How Leaders are Adapting Safety for Changing Demographics
Canada has undergone significant demographic changes which have impacted workplace safety in multiple ways, often exposing the limits of traditional communication and training protocols. This collaborative discussion tackles the frontline realities of integrating a rapidly diversifying workforce into high-risk environments. Understand how to move beyond basic inclusion theory to design practical, culturally responsive strategies that protect every worker on the job.
- Discuss the unique communication and cultural safety challenges faced by diverse demographic groups on the front lines
- Learn the critical role of leaders in breaking down cultural barriers and adapting daily safety protocols
- Explore actionable ways to redesign frontline training so every worker, regardless of background, operates safely
- How to position a diverse workforce into future leadership positions within their organization
Maria Robibero
Senior Manager, HS&E, Ledcor
Kirwin Lalla
Director, Environmental Health and Safety, Sysco Canada Inc.
Maria Pontes
Director of Health & Safety, Empire Homes
11:15 – 11:20 AM
Transition to Breakouts
11:20 – 12:00 PM
Breakout session A
Panel: Managing Workplace Violence as a Critical Site Hazard
Despite years of zero-tolerance policies, frontline workers are increasingly exposed to environments plagued by unpredictable violence and harassment. Given that traditional reactive approaches often fall short, organizations are encouraged to move beyond treating these incidents as routine personnel matters and begin managing them as dynamic operational risks. This panel explores how to integrate behavioral threats into your core safety ecosystem, treating violence with the same rigor as any other critical site hazard.
- Discuss why traditional compliance policies are failing to protect workers from escalating threats
- Learn the critical role of leaders in shifting the organizational mindset to treat violence as a primary operational hazard
- Examine strategies for organizations to anticipate, prevent, and mitigate workplace violence before it occurs
Lisa Williamson
Director, Health and Safety, Burlington Hydro
Moderator
Scott Witte
Safety Technology Specialist, Peoplesafe
Mandy Johnston
Paramedic Divisional Commander and EVAP Program Lead, Peel Regional Paramedic Services
11:20 – 12:00 PM
Breakout session B
Rethinking the Rulebook: HOP vs. Traditional Management Systems
Is Human and Organizational Performance (HOP) the future of safety or just the latest industry buzzword? Traditional safety management systems have long been the foundation of workplace safety, built on structure, compliance, and control. At the same time, HOP has gained traction by challenging long-held assumptions about human error, learning, and system design. But with that rise comes important questions including:
- Does HOP actually improve safety outcomes?
- Are traditional systems too rigid or simply misunderstood?
- And are organizations choosing between the two, when the real answer lies somewhere in between?
This session goes beyond surface-level arguments to explore the strengths, limitations, and common misconceptions of both approaches.
Dylan Short
Managing Director, Redlands Group
Iqbal Brar
President/Principal Consultant, IQ Safety Solutions
12:00 – 1:00 PM
Lunch and Expo Hall Networking
1:00 – 1:40 PM
Panel: AI at the Operational Edge - Proactive Safety in Action
Artificial intelligence and technology is transforming how organizations identify and prevent workplace incidents. From predictive hazard detection to real-time monitoring, AI offers unprecedented opportunities to protect workers—but it also brings real-world challenges. This panel brings together safety leaders and AI experts to show how organizations can harness AI and tech effectively, turning data into actionable insights while maintaining human oversight, frontline trust, and operational control.
- Explore real-world cases where AI improved safety outcomes and where rushed adoption created risks
- Learn strategies to integrate predictive tools and wearables while keeping frontline teams engaged
- Discover how AI can enhance hazard prediction, fatigue management, and operational decision-making
Jimmy Vassilopoulos
Director, National Health and Safety, Purolator
Moderator
Chamath Harischandra
Strategy Solutions Manager, Powerfleet
Roshan Varghese
Sr Director, Environment, Health and Safety, 4Refuel
1:40 – 1:45 PM
Transition to Breakouts
1:45 – 2:25 PM
Breakout session A
Beyond the Paperwork: Turning Near Misses into Predictive Risk Intelligence
Near-miss reporting is often treated as a compliance exercise, producing poor data and little actionable insight. This hands-on session shows how to transform reporting into a proactive tool that prevents incidents and protects workers. Attendees will learn how to capture high-quality, predictive risk data that informs safer operations and helps stop incidents before they happen.
- Understand why traditional reporting misses real risks and opportunities
- Learn how to empower frontline workers to report without fear or hesitation – even when the bottom line is impacted
- Explore practical techniques to turn investigations into predictive insights that guide prevention
- How is AI and technology helping organizations better prevent workplace SIFS and near miss incidents
Vicki Chow
Head of Process Excellence, Health, Safety and the Environment, Sanofi
Sean Tarnowsky
Corporate HSE Manager, Top Grade Energy Services
1:45 – 2:25 PM
Breakout session B
The Business of Safety - Translating Risk-Based Intervention into ROI
To secure executive buy-in and intelligent resource allocation, safety professionals must learn to translate frontline realities into the language of business strategy. This session bridges the gap between risk prevention and financial goals, demonstrating how proactive safety measures directly protect the bottom line and drive operational efficiency. Learn to move beyond standard trailing metrics to present safety as a high-return strategic investment rather than a sunk operational cost.
- Discuss the limitations of using standard trailing metrics to justify budget and resource requests to the C-suite.
- Learn the critical role of leaders in framing frontline, risk-based interventions as measurable financial returns and operational efficiencies.
- Explore actionable frameworks for building a compelling ROI case that wins executive support for modern safety initiatives.
Scott DeBow
Director, Health, Safety & Environmental, Avetta
2:25 – 2:40 PM
Break
2:40 – 3:15 PM
Breakout session A
Panel: Breaking Down Borders – The Industry Case for Harmonized Safety Standards
Canada's patchwork of provincial safety regulations isn't just a compliance headache — it's a daily operational reality for organizations working across jurisdictions. But waiting for regulators to solve it isn't a strategy. Hear directly from national employers on how they're tackling the fragmented landscape head-on — and what harmonization could actually look like if the profession stopped waiting for permission.
- Hear from national employers on how they're actively addressing the operational friction of provincial requirements
- Explore both regulatory harmonization and professional harmonization through a global lens, including what INCHPO's standardization efforts
- Examine the real cost of fragmented standards on frontline training — and what a standardized, cross-jurisdictional approach could mean
- Bring your experience to the room and share the cross-jurisdictional challenges
Emily Larose
Vice President Regulatory and General Counsel, Electrical Safety Authority
2:40 – 3:15 PM
Breakout session B
Legal Update 2026: The Key Shifts Every Safety Leader Must Understand
Canada’s OHS legal landscape continues to shift, with evolving case law, limited prosecutions, and growing expectations around what “due diligence” actually looks like in practice. This session will break down the latest developments—including insights from recent Supreme Court fallout, enforcement trends, and why prosecution rates remain low despite serious incidents—focusing on what these changes mean for organizations and safety leaders in terms of accountability, decision-making, and risk exposure.
- Key legal updates and enforcement trends every safety leader should understand—including continuing fallout from the Greater Sudbury decision
- Practical insight into liability, due diligence, and the gap between “compliant” and “effective” systems
- Bring your own questions and challenges for open discussion with legal experts
Jeremy Warning
Partner, Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark LLP
3:20 – 4:00 PM
Closing Panel : The Future of the Safety Profession – Why Regulation Can’t Wait
As Canadian workplaces grow more complex and risk becomes more interconnected, the safety function can no longer remain defined primarily by compliance. Yet without consistent professional standards, the role of “safety leader” varies widely—impacting credibility, effectiveness, and ultimately, outcomes on the ground. This closing session looks ahead at the urgent question facing the profession: whether Canada should move toward a more formally regulated safety discipline, and what is at stake if it does not.
- Examine why a more structured, self-regulated safety profession matters for credibility and organizational impact
- Discuss the risks of continuing with inconsistent standards, qualifications, and expectations across the profession
- How safety professionals can prepare now for a future where regulation, accountability, and competency standards are more clearly defined
Peter Sturm
President and CEO, STURM Consulting
Larry Masotti
Chair, Board of Registered Canadian Safety Professionals (BCRSP)
4:00 – 4:05 PM
Closing Remarks from the Chair
Lee-Anne Lyon-Bartley
Vice President, Health Safety Environment, Dexterra