Robert Newcombe

Alexandra Theroux

Concerned about AI in your workplace? You’re not alone. This session addresses the real questions safety professionals face about AI adoption—from understanding its capabilities and limitations to establishing ethical boundaries—while providing a practical framework for thoughtful implementation across diverse workplace contexts.

We’ll start with an AI primer covering what these tools actually do (and don’t do), then dive deep into the critical questions you’re facing: What can AI realistically accomplish for safety professionals, and where does it fall short? When should AI be used in safety contexts, and when is human judgment non-negotiable? How do we address ethical concerns including data security, algorithmic bias, worker privacy, and maintaining trust with clients and frontline workers? Through real-world examples from transport, healthcare, unions, and other industries, we’ll explore appropriate and inappropriate applications of AI in safety-critical environments.

You’ll learn how to evaluate AI tools for your specific industry context, establish clear boundaries for AI use that protect worker safety and data security, facilitate collaborative discussions with leadership and teams about adoption, and develop comprehensive ethical guidelines through organizational dialogue. We’ll also cover practical applications where AI can support safety work—from documentation and research to trend analysis—while understanding the critical limitations that require human expertise and judgment.

Whether you’re AI-curious or AI-wary, you’ll leave with a clear framework for assessing when and how AI should be integrated into workplace health and safety operations, ensuring technology serves as a support tool rather than a replacement for critical human judgment and expertise.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand AI fundamentals, realistic capabilities, and critical limitations for workplace health and safety applications

2. Identify when AI should and should not be used in safety-critical environments across various industries

3. Address ethical concerns including data security, worker privacy, algorithmic bias, and client trust

4. Develop strategies for securing leadership buy-in and establishing ethical AI usage policies

5. Evaluate AI tools and applications appropriate for your specific industry and safety context

6. Create an AI usage framework that prioritizes human judgment, worker safety, and ethical implementation

Dylan Short

Organizations are using Temporary Agency Workers (TAWs) more than ever. This helps them stay flexible with limited staff while meeting high business demands. While this approach supports operational agility, it also introduces potential risks that can impact organizational safety performance. This session will look at the unique challenge employers have with Temporary Agency Workers – both in day-to-day operations and in meeting regulatory requirements. Additionally, we will uncover four key hidden risks and outline actions you can take to mitigate risks to your organization’s safety results.

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe regulatory issues and requirements for temporary agency workers

2. Identify 4 key hidden risks of Temporary Agency Workers

3. Outline specific actions to mitigate risk when engaging Temporary Agency Workers

Stacia Gunn

Safety coordinators play a critical role in any organization, yet their effectiveness often depends on far more than technical and regulatory knowledge. This session explores what truly makes a safety coordinator effective, based on the results of a national survey and testimonial feedback from safety professionals across Canada. The data reveals clear patterns in what helps coordinators succeed and what holds them back, supported by candid insights from those doing the work every day.

Participants will learn which qualities, habits, and organizational supports consistently lead to better safety outcomes and stronger relationships on site. The session will also share simple, actionable tools that leaders can use to develop and empower their coordinators. Whether you’re a safety professional, supervisor, or senior leader, you’ll leave with a deeper understanding of how to build conditions where safety coordinators can thrive and make a real impact.

This presentation is grounded in authentic experiences, not theory, and reflects a genuine desire to strengthen the profession by listening to those on the front lines of safety.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the top traits and skills that contribute to effective safety coordination.

• Recognize the key organizational supports that help coordinators succeed.

• Understand the common challenges coordinators face and how to address them.

• Apply practical strategies to enhance safety coordinator development and engagement.

Maureen Cudmore

Health Canada’s newly released Guidance on Improving Indoor Air Quality in Office Buildings provides modern, practical advice for creating healthier, more comfortable, and more productive workplaces. This new edition replaces the 1995 technical guide and reflects the current science on indoor air quality as well as today’s realities: from tighter, more energy-efficient buildings to emerging risks like infectious aerosols and wildfire smoke.

The updated guidance emphasizes prevention and early action, outlining how employers, building operators, maintenance staff, urban planners, and environmental public health professionals can proactively manage air quality through better source control, ventilation, and air cleaning. It also highlights the importance of training and education on indoor air quality (IAQ). It introduces current best practices such as using higher-efficiency filtration, incorporating portable air cleaners, and monitoring CO₂ as an indicator of ventilation adequacy. It also provides detailed advice for responding to IAQ issues and integrating IAQ management into broader occupational health frameworks.

Participants will gain an understanding of how IAQ directly influences health and well-being of building occupants, and how common issues (such as inadequate ventilation, improper filtration, or building use changes) can be prevented through proactive design and maintenance. The session will also explore how IAQ management in office buildings can support other health and safety priorities, including reducing respiratory illness risks and responding to wildfire smoke and outdoor air pollution events.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the key updates and practical recommendations in Health Canada’s Guidance on Improving Indoor Air Quality in Office Buildings (2025).

2. Recognize how indoor air quality affects the health of building occupants.

3. Identify effective strategies for improving ventilation, filtration, and air cleaning, including during wildfire smoke and pollution events.

4. Learn how to integrate indoor air quality management into workplace health and safety programs.

Mark Fleming

Artificial intelligence has the potential to reshape every aspect of safety work, such as assisting in the drafting SOPs, creating toolbox talk materials, analyzing incidents, spotting hazards using video, and searching complex regulations. Yet adoption is uneven, and leaders have real concerns around data privacy, accuracy, negative impact on culture, and legal accountability. This is a two part proposal, the first is to invite all conference participants to complete a short online survey about AI use and the second part is a session on AI use including a presentation of survey results. The presentation will take AI from hype to practical, ethical practice for Atlantic Canadian workplaces. This presentation (1) map common use cases participants can pilot now (e.g., drafting toolbox talk material; enabling staff to summarize internal standards; creating case studies for training material, summarizing safety documents); (2) discuss the most common barriers and how to mitigate them (training staff in use, ensuring privacy, data security, ethical use guidelines and decision ownership); and (3) share preliminary, conference specific insights via a brief attendee survey (QR code; anonymous) on current use, attitudes, concerns, and barriers. Participants will leave with an independent overview of where to start, what to avoid, how to determine the potential value in their organization and how to use this technology to enhance safety. This will be an interactive session with time for Q&A and for discussing early survey results gathered during the conference and examples of how to use publicly available AI tools to improve safety practice.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify valuable AI use cases in OHS and where they fit into your program.

• Apply guardrails that address privacy, accuracy, and legal accountability in AI-assisted safety work.

• Distinguish task-focused computer vision from “worker surveillance,” and plan for worker/union engagement.

• Use the preliminary conference AI survey findings to benchmark your organization’s AI readiness.

Shelly Meadows

Martin Franchi

As a health and safety committee member or representative you may be asked to participate in harassment investigations. Conducting a workplace investigation requires skill, sensitivity, and a structured approach. In this session, we’ll dive into the key components of a fair and effective investigation—from assessing the need for interim measures to planning your investigation timeline. Learn how to apply trauma-informed interviewing techniques, evaluate credibility, and corroborate evidence while maintaining procedural fairness and confidentiality. We’ll also explore common challenges faced during investigations and strategies to navigate them with professionalism and confidence. Whether you’re new to investigations or looking to refine your approach, this session will equip you with the tools and insights needed to handle investigations effectively and respectfully.  Join us, two season harassment investigators, as we address harassment in the workplace and you leave ready to tackle this challenge head on!

Learning Objectives:

1. Gain practical tools to confidently manage harassment investigations from start to finish.

2. Discover how trauma-informed interviewing and evidence assessment strengthen investigation outcomes.

3. Build the confidence to handle sensitive situations with professionalism, fairness, and respect.

Terrence Taylor

Psychological safety doesn’t come from posters or policies — it’s built through the stories people share every day.
In this 60-minute interactive session, Terrence Taylor introduces the S.A.F.E. Places™ model — a story-driven framework that helps leaders and teams turn real-world experiences into safer, more connected workplaces.

Using a short dramatized story and a guided blindfold exercise, participants will feel psychological safety before they analyze it. The experience immerses them in what it means to Share, Ask, Foster, and Embody safety — the four moves at the core of the model.

Through this mix of narrative, reflection, and sensory learning, attendees will see how small communication habits can transform trust, morale, and performance. Designed for safety professionals, HR leaders, and managers, this session connects the dots between psychological safety, DEI, and leadership in a practical, memorable way.

By the end, participants will leave not just informed — but equipped with a repeatable framework they can apply Monday morning to build their own S.A.F.E. Places.

Learning Objectives:

• Explain the four steps of the S.A.F.E. model — Share, Ask, Foster, and Embody — and how they drive psychological safety.

• Use storytelling to uncover hidden fears and improve real-time communication during high-stress moments.

• Apply sensory and story-based techniques to training, leadership meetings, and incident debriefs.

• Create simple team rituals that sustain psychological safety beyond the session (like the “Monday huddle” or “weird noise jar”).

• Recognize and model behavior that builds trust and belonging across hierarchy and role.

Unlock the transformative power of gratitude in leadership and workplace culture.  This session explores scientific insights into how gratitude reshapes brain function, fuels team motivation fosters meaningful engagement and drives organizational success.  Discover practical, high-impact gratitude practices that can be immediately applied to foster innovation, improve productivity and create a thriving workplace where every individual feels valued and inspired. 

Learning Objectives: 

1. Demonstrate how cultivating gratitude in the workplace directly impacts productivity, engagement, and innovation.

2. Delineate the science of gratitude and its connection to neurobiology and team motivation.

3. Discuss high impact, practical gratitude practices that can be implemented immediately.

Steve Lowe

Participants are guided through the critical behaviors that strengthen cohesion and reliability under pressure: developing genuine connection so that team members feel valued and supported; earning trust through consistent, transparent decisions; and empowering people to act with confidence while knowing their leaders stand behind them. The session highlights how listening with intent transforms communication and morale, while matching leadership style to each situation unlocks individual potential and team effectiveness.

Through real-world examples and reflective questions, Steve Lowe demonstrates how courageous leadership—balancing challenge and support—creates environments where workers take ownership, speak up, and operate safely and efficiently. Attendees leave with practical insights for applying these principles immediately, whether they lead in the field or within corporate operations.

Ultimately, Leading Effective Teams is about building trust and accountability that endure beyond any single project, empowering leaders to cultivate resilient teams that thrive in complexity and risk.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the core leadership behaviors - connection, trust, empowerment, and courage that drive performance in high-risk settings.

• Apply active-listening techniques to build trust and engagement across all levels.

• Adapt leadership style to match team maturity and operational context.

• Recognize how empowering others fosters ownership, innovation, and safer outcomes.

• Translate human-performance principles into daily leadership practices that sustain strong, reliable teams.

Nadine Wentzell

Substance use continues to be one of the most complex and sensitive issues affecting workplace health, safety, and culture. While policies often focus on detection and discipline, few organizations have a clear path toward supporting recovery and sustainable workplace reintegration. Employers frequently face uncertainty around identifying substance use, concerns about privacy and liability, and limited guidance on what to do after a positive test result.

This presentation challenges conventional thinking by asking: What if we approached Substance Use Disorder (SUD) like any other health condition — with a structured, compassionate Return to Work (RTW) process?

Participants will explore how early collaboration, individualized planning, and accountability can strengthen safety outcomes and workplace trust. Drawing on evidence and real-world examples from organizations in Canada and abroad, this session highlights practical steps to design RTW programs that are both supportive and cost-effective.

By reframing SUD management as part of a proactive safety culture, attendees will gain strategies that reduce stigma, promote inclusion, and build a stronger foundation for recovery and productivity.

Challenge yourself to think differently and learn practical doable strategies that build on the success of others.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand how reframing Substance Use Disorder (SUD) as a health condition supports psychological safety, mental health and wellness.

2. Identify essential components of an effective RTW plan following SUD determination.

3. Explore practical, scalable strategies for collaboration between employers, employees, and support providers.

Karen Lapierre Pitts

Workplace injuries and fatalities impact far more than the individual involved: the emotional, psychological, and financial effects ripple through families, workplaces and communities long after the incident is over. Too often, once the headlines fade, so does public awareness.

In this powerful session, Jessica Gillis shares how her brother Skyler was killed on the job and the long road for her and her family from that moment. Jessica’s story is a poignant reminder of the hidden, lasting consequences of workplace incidents.

As a volunteer speaker with Threads of Life, she offers insight into the journey of healing and strength found through sharing her story, advocating for change, and volunteering. Joining her is Karen Lapierre Pitts, Manager of Family Support with Threads of Life, who will outline how the organization supports families like Jessica’s through programs that foster hope and connection. Together, they’ll explore how critical our communities are in overcoming a workplace tragedy—and how individuals and organizations can get involved to help prevent future tragedies and build a strong safety culture.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will recognize the emotional, psychological, and community impacts of workplace tragedies

• Understand the value of support, empathy, and storytelling in healing

• Explore ways to foster safety, resilience, and compassionate workplace cultures that prevent future harm

Dave Elniski

Character and competency are central to who we are as safety professionals and other types and combinations of vocations. Competency refers to our ability to do our jobs well. Character refers to our integrity and values as well as the degree to which we uphold them under pressure.

What do we spend more time working on? Competency? Character? Both fairly equally? While there are surely exceptions, professional development activities in safety and related organizational management professions place far greater emphasis on building competencies. Character development is often not addressed beyond routine resignings of codes of ethics and occasional ethics courses. Yet, safety professionals must not only be skilled but must also be intentional in upholding their ethics and values, be willing to challenge their values as new information becomes available, and be willing to challenge the values of others. These are skills that require moral courage, yet few professional development plans include bolstering them despite it being quite possible for individuals and organizations to encourage, support, and realize such growth.

This workshop explores why building and maintaining character is critical to safety professionals: both for the integrity of the work we do and to mitigate the risk of harm we may experience from stress related to ethical dilemmas. It is voluntarily interactive: attendees are encouraged to participate in the thought exercises Dave Elniski will conduct, but those wanting not to participate are welcome, too, and may participate simply by thinking through the exercises on their own.

Learning Objectives:

1. Distinguish between character and competency while gaining an appreciation for the importance of each

2. Evaluate their own professional lives in terms of character versus competency

3. See the critical importance of personal and professional character-building as an ongoing and regular practice

Joseph Hines

In today’s interconnected world, cyber risks are no longer confined to IT departments—they are a critical workplace safety issue that impacts employees’ physical, mental, and financial wellbeing. This session will explore the intersection of cyber risk and workplace health and safety, providing actionable insights for employers, union leaders, government representatives, and other stakeholders. Attendees will learn how cyber threats, such as phishing, ransomware, and data breaches, can disrupt operations, compromise sensitive employee data, and create stress and anxiety among workers. The session will also highlight the importance of fostering a culture of cyber awareness and resilience, where employees are empowered to identify and mitigate risks. Drawing on real-world case studies and best practices, this presentation will outline strategies for integrating cyber risk management into broader organizational safety and wellbeing initiatives. Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of how to protect their workforce from cyber threats while enhancing overall organizational resilience. This session promises to be an engaging and informative.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the impact of cyber risks on employee wellbeing and organizational safety.

• Identify key cyber threats and their implications for workplace health and safety.

• Learn strategies to integrate cyber risk management into organizational safety and wellbeing initiatives.

• Gain actionable insights to foster a culture of cyber awareness and resilience among employees.

• Collaboration to share best practices and experiences in managing cyber risks.

Fred Jeffers

Join us for a timely update on workplace harassment following the September 1 implementation of new regulations. Learn about emerging trends, key insights, and what we’re seeing across Nova Scotia workplaces.

This interactive session is also your opportunity to share what tools, resources, and supports you need. Let’s work together to strengthen understanding, improve prevention, and better support workplaces across the province.

Douglas Critch

While some companies have safety policies and procedures that are clearly defined, other companies have loosely defined policies or event safety policies that are missing in action. There are even some companies that rely on common safety Myths to get by. Let us address some of these and discover the truth about them.

During this session, our TUV certified Machine Safety Expert, Doug Critch, will discuss several safety myths he commonly encounters and the regulations and standards that guide your machine safety. Be sure to attend this insightful session as Doug shares his years of safety experience, and even a little humour. You may also have an opportunity to question Doug on a Safety Myth you may have encountered.

Learning Objectives:

• Why should I worry about machine safety?

• Understand who is responsible for machine safety

• Learn how to properly assess and mitigate your machine safety risks

• Understand the different types of machine standards

Christian Fournier

When I stepped into the role of Health and Safety Coordinator at a struggling sawmill, the situation was dire. The company was on the brink of crisis, with twenty-two lost-time incidents recorded in the previous year. Morale was low, safety protocols were ignored, and the culture around workplace safety was almost nonexistent. To make matters worse, we were under threat of closure from WorkSafeNB unless we made immediate, drastic improvements.

This was the starting point of a major transformation—one that required not only technical knowledge, but also leadership, persistence, and a strong vision for change. I began by listening to workers on the ground, understanding the root causes of incidents, and rebuilding trust. Together with the management team, we implemented clear safety procedures, consistent training programs, and a system of accountability that everyone could buy into.

Changing a culture doesn’t happen overnight. There was resistance, skepticism, and setbacks. But over time, through collaboration and consistent communication, we saw attitudes shift. Safety became a shared value, not just a checklist.

The results speak for themselves: we achieved two and a half years without a single lost-time incident.

This experience taught me that even in the most challenging environments, meaningful change is possible when you combine clear strategy with genuine engagement. Safety isn’t just about rules—it’s about people, and the culture you build around them.

Learning Objectives

1. Be consistent.

2. Lead by example.

3. Be open-minded.

David Welsh

Even well-established JOHSCs can lose effectiveness over time. Join WCB Workplace Consultant David Welsh for an interactive presentation that explores common challenges, shares practical observations, and invites an exchange of experiences. This is not a JOHSC 101 session.

Nadine Wentzell

Many workplace health and safety policies, particularly those related to drugs and alcohol, are often filled with complex “legalese” and have a punitive “air”. Such approaches tend to cause discomfort, often bordering on fear, among employees, especially when there is already sensitivity to the topic, and apprehension about employer intentions. Terms such as “zero tolerance” can intensify these fears, resulting in a perceived – and possibly genuine – risk of termination of employment following a single positive drug test. These concerns often result in increased silence about anything related to substance use, driving the problem even further underground, and undermining efforts to foster open communication and prioritize workplace health and safety.

This session will provide insight into how to address these concerns. The focus will be on preventing substance use and providing support to employees who may be experiencing problematic use, versus reacting after the fact.

Strategies provided will identify foundational components to develop a policy that’s viewed as a valuable “go-to” resource on addressing substance use in the workplace. The best proof of success? A dog-eared document that serves as a resource and reference for all employees.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe overarching themes.

• Consider key elements that promote employee engagement and application.

• List 3 changes to your current policy that are possible and doable within the next 3-6 months.

Todd Hickey

In fast-paced, resource-stretched workplaces, your team’s well-being directly impacts your results.

This session explores two connected risks that often go unnoticed: psychological stress and musculoskeletal strain. Left unchecked, they can erode morale, performance, and retention. But with the right strategies, they’re entirely manageable.

Todd will break down how stress and strain show up in real workplaces, why they matter, and what you can do about them.

Whether you work in HR, safety, leadership, or wear multiple hats, you’ll leave with ideas on how to protect your people and strengthen your business.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will learn about the connection between psychological & musculoskeletal hazards in the workplace, and strategies on how to identify and minimize each.

Nuala Reilly

Chalena Biggar

A Panel Discussion format with women from various industries.

The health and safety profession has evolved significantly over the past several decades, with women playing an increasingly visible and impactful role in shaping safer, healthier workplaces. This dynamic panel will bring together experienced leaders and emerging voices to explore the progress made, the barriers that remain, and the strategies driving meaningful change.

Panelists will share personal experiences, discuss the value of mentorship and allyship, and highlight initiatives that are helping to create more inclusive and equitable career pathways. Attendees will gain insights into navigating leadership opportunities, breaking down systemic challenges, and fostering environments where women’s contributions are recognized and amplified.

Whether you’re a seasoned professional or new to the field, this discussion will offer inspiration, practical takeaways, and a vision for the future of the profession.

Learning Objectives

1. Recognize the historical and current contributions of women in advancing the health and safety profession.

2. Identify key challenges and barriers women have faced in the field and how these have evolved over time.

3. Gain practical strategies to support gender equity, mentorship, and leadership development within health and safety roles.

4. Explore diverse career pathways and leadership opportunities for women in the profession.

5. Learn from real experiences and success stories shared by women leaders, providing insight and inspiration for attendees at all career stages.

6. Understand the impact of inclusive practices on workplace safety culture and organizational success.

Christopher Davis

An introduction to the Atlantic Canada Common Ground Alliance (ATLCGA), whose mission is to ensure public safety, protect workers, preserve the environment, safeguard underground infrastructure, and maintain the integrity of services, by promoting effective damage prevention practices. We will share the tools available in Atlantic Canada to identify underground infrastructure and discuss the societal impacts when there is a failure to dig safe and a damage occurs.

Learning Objectives:

1. Inform infrastructure owners and workers in the construction industry about best practices to protect workers and the public by preventing damage to underground utilities.

2. Gain an understanding of how locates work in the Atlantic region, and what tools are available.

3. Understanding the role of workers, excavators, one-call service providers, locators, and infrastructure owners in damage prevention.

4. How to get involved with the ATLCGA and shape the evolution of the locate processes in the Atlantic region.

Chad Carlson

Delivering one of Atlantic Canada’s largest construction project, the QEII Redevelopment, presents unique Health, Safety, and Environmental (HSE) challenges. From coordinating rock blasting around critical hospital surgeries to managing the overlap of four tower cranes, including two of the tallest free-standing cranes in the region, the complexity is immense. Additional challenges include providing housing for a workforce of more than 1,600 people and implementing a dedicated water treatment plant. Located in one of Halifax’s busiest areas, the project demands well-planned coordination to ensure safety and efficiency. This presentation will explore the strategies, planning processes, and innovative HSE measures driving the success of QEII and shaping future projects across Nova Scotia.

Patrick Coppinger

We live in a connected world, Bluetooth, GPS, mobile networks are omnipresent. In the workplace critical information is often under-utilized or missing altogether. The connected worker has a clear purpose for the Occupational Health & Safety Practitioner with workplace sectors such as First Responder, Energy, Utilities, Construction, Food & Beverage, Government Commercial, Manufacturing, Transportation, Mining, Water & Wastewater markets benefiting. A connected work platform builds live, real time connections between a worker, the task and workplace. Actionable data and telemetry from workers’ high-risk activities using portable and fixed gas detection, real time location, and no motion alarms helps Managers with accountability & compliance on site or remotely, anywhere in the world.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to explain what a connected worker is, the technology behind it and how it creates a measurable compliant and accountable workplace.

Dr. Jackie Kinley

When it comes to workplace safety, equipment and compliance are only part of the equation. The most difficult and costly risks are behavioural and psychological: stress, burnout, conflict, and hazardous behaviour that undermine safety culture.

In this session, Dr. Jackie Kinley, psychiatrist, trauma specialist, and resilience scientist, introduces a neuroscience-based, system-level approach to managing these hidden risks. Drawing on her research and practical experience with organizations across Nova Scotia and beyond, Dr. Kinley will demonstrate how an ecosystem provides a comprehensive framework: Awareness (talks and leadership engagement), Education (Workplace Hazardous Behaviour Identification System / WHBIS™ courses), and Skills (BrainGym exercises).

Designed for safety professionals and leaders, this session will move beyond problem identification to show how to measure, intervene, and sustain change in managing psychosocial hazards. Attendees will leave with a clear understanding of how resilience and psychological safety can be operationalized in real workplaces, improving health, performance, and safety outcomes.

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify the impact of behavioural and psychological hazards on workplace health and safety.

2. Apply trauma-informed and resilience-based frameworks to manage psychosocial risks.

3. Understand how a safety ecosystem (Awareness, Education, Skills) provides measurable, integrated solutions for safety leadership.

4. Implement practical strategies to strengthen psychological safety, reduce hazardous behaviour, and improve workplace culture.

Mark Fleming

Artificial intelligence has the potential to reshape every aspect of safety work, such as assisting in the drafting SOPs, creating toolbox talk materials, analyzing incidents, spotting hazards using video, and searching complex regulations. Yet adoption is uneven, and leaders have real concerns around data privacy, accuracy, negative impact on culture, and legal accountability. This is a two part proposal, the first is to invite all conference participants to complete a short online survey about AI use and the second part is a session on AI use including a presentation of survey results. The presentation will take AI from hype to practical, ethical practice for Atlantic Canadian workplaces. This presentation (1) map common use cases participants can pilot now (e.g., drafting toolbox talk material; enabling staff to summarize internal standards; creating case studies for training material, summarizing safety documents); (2) discuss the most common barriers and how to mitigate them (training staff in use, ensuring privacy, data security, ethical use guidelines and decision ownership); and (3) share preliminary, conference specific insights via a brief attendee survey (QR code; anonymous) on current use, attitudes, concerns, and barriers. Participants will leave with an independent overview of where to start, what to avoid, how to determine the potential value in their organization and how to use this technology to enhance safety. This will be an interactive session with time for Q&A and for discussing early survey results gathered during the conference and examples of how to use publicly available AI tools to improve safety practice.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify valuable AI use cases in OHS and where they fit into your program.

• Apply guardrails that address privacy, accuracy, and legal accountability in AI-assisted safety work.

• Distinguish task-focused computer vision from “worker surveillance,” and plan for worker/union engagement.

• Use the preliminary conference AI survey findings to benchmark your organization’s AI readiness.

Stephanie Allen

We are being called to experience and embody a "new" paradigm of life that will nourish both our work lives and our personal life. With so much "unknown", how do we move forward with peace and possibility in our hearts?

Discover what "balance" means and how we can create a life that nourishes us—inwardly and outwardly. This experiential session is for re-storying yourself and awakening your understanding between your inner and outer self. If you are ready to "be" living a life that is not about "doing" more, but knowing you are already enough, then this presentation is for you.

Learning Objectives:

• Take away the 3 concepts to help you live from a new empowering perspective.

• Experience practices to support integrating a happier, healthier you.

• Taking care of you while taking care of others.

Louise Trotter

When a person who has a personal relationship with a worker—such as a current or former intimate partner or family member—may physically harm, or attempt or threaten to physically harm, that worker at work, it becomes an occupational health and safety issue requiring systematic risk assessment and control.

Most Canadian provinces explicitly recognize domestic violence in their OHS legislation when it creates workplace safety risks. Nova Scotia’s Regulations, while silent on "domestic violence," provide a definition of violence that encompasses domestic violence when it manifests at the workplace.

Even if the Violence in the Workplace Regulations don’t cover your workplace, the systematic approach presented applies universally under the employer’s duty to take reasonable precautions to protect workers. For workplaces covered by the regulations, there’s a specific trigger: employers must conduct a new violence risk assessment when they "become aware of a type of violence occurring in similar workplaces that was not taken into consideration" previously. The Government of Nova Scotia’s declaration of intimate partner violence as an "epidemic" substantiates this awareness. Where significant risk is identified, a workplace violence prevention plan is required.

This technical session provides the rationale for why you need to include violence risk assessment in your program, the tools for conducting the assessment, and implementing the required controls within your prevention plan. You’ll receive practical content: risk assessment templates, prevention statement language, education and training content, and safety planning protocols grounded in the hierarchy of controls and RACE methodology.

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify domestic violence as workplace violence when personal relationship violence creates threats or conduct endangering employee safety at work

2. Apply assessment triggers to determine when domestic violence requires inclusion in violence risk assessments, using Nova Scotia’s epidemic declaration as evidence

3. Assess significance using probability, severity, and exposure analysis to determine when workplace violence prevention plans are required

4. Implement systematic controls using the hierarchy of controls within existing Violence Prevention Plan frameworks, balancing privacy obligations with duty of care

Dave Elniski

The days of slow technological evolution are over and the era of just trying to keep up is here. Technology now evolves faster than ever before, including in safety management. This conference will almost certainly have several safety technology suppliers present, and it would be challenging to find a single safety management activity that has not been directly or indirectly transformed by recent technological developments.

If there is a technology capable of reducing the risk posed by a hazard, the safety professional interested in addressing said hazard will have more tools at their disposal if they inform themselves accordingly. Safety technology is an interesting and fun discussion topic, but it also represents a newly forming area of expertise in which all safety professionals – generalists and specialists alike – need a reasonable level of knowledge. Yet, evaluating technology is not easy. Manufacturers generally offer assistance in applying their solutions to specific workplaces, but the motivation to make the sale and retain the customer introduces enough potential bias that we need other ways to verify what we are being told from a single source.

Dave Elniski (he/they) is a safety professional and researcher with the Alberta Motor Transport Association (AMTA), and he is the author of Pro-Tech & Pro-Active, a 2025-published book on safety technology. Dave will present strategies to evaluate safety technologies that are meant for practical application by safety professionals at any career stage with a focus on two core concepts: efficacy and ROI.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn about the relationship between return-on-investment (ROI) and efficacy (and how to use each when deciding on potential technological solutions)

• Become aware of where to go to confirm or dispute information about technology from a single source

• Receive workplace-ready strategies to help make evidence-informed product and service purchasing decisions

Robert Newcombe

Alexandra Theroux

Concerned about AI in your workplace? You’re not alone. This session addresses the real questions safety professionals face about AI adoption—from understanding its capabilities and limitations to establishing ethical boundaries—while providing a practical framework for thoughtful implementation across diverse workplace contexts.

We’ll start with an AI primer covering what these tools actually do (and don’t do), then dive deep into the critical questions you’re facing: What can AI realistically accomplish for safety professionals, and where does it fall short? When should AI be used in safety contexts, and when is human judgment non-negotiable? How do we address ethical concerns including data security, algorithmic bias, worker privacy, and maintaining trust with clients and frontline workers? Through real-world examples from transport, healthcare, unions, and other industries, we’ll explore appropriate and inappropriate applications of AI in safety-critical environments.

You’ll learn how to evaluate AI tools for your specific industry context, establish clear boundaries for AI use that protect worker safety and data security, facilitate collaborative discussions with leadership and teams about adoption, and develop comprehensive ethical guidelines through organizational dialogue. We’ll also cover practical applications where AI can support safety work—from documentation and research to trend analysis—while understanding the critical limitations that require human expertise and judgment.

Whether you’re AI-curious or AI-wary, you’ll leave with a clear framework for assessing when and how AI should be integrated into workplace health and safety operations, ensuring technology serves as a support tool rather than a replacement for critical human judgment and expertise.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand AI fundamentals, realistic capabilities, and critical limitations for workplace health and safety applications

2. Identify when AI should and should not be used in safety-critical environments across various industries

3. Address ethical concerns including data security, worker privacy, algorithmic bias, and client trust

4. Develop strategies for securing leadership buy-in and establishing ethical AI usage policies

5. Evaluate AI tools and applications appropriate for your specific industry and safety context

6. Create an AI usage framework that prioritizes human judgment, worker safety, and ethical implementation

Joe Treen

Have you ever changed lanes and suddenly discovered a vehicle in your blind spot? Experienced a pedestrian stepping into your path? Witnessed a near miss on a worksite involving moving equipment?

These moments share a common root: a lapse in situational awareness.

In fast-paced environments—whether on the road or at work—complacency, distraction, and routine can quietly narrow our field of perception. What feels like experience and confidence can quickly become assumption and autopilot. The result is often the same: “I never saw it coming.”

This engaging session explores situational awareness as both a personal responsibility and a powerful risk control strategy. Participants will examine how blind spots develop, why near misses occur, and how small behavioral adjustments can dramatically reduce exposure to risk.

Situational awareness isn’t luck—it’s a skill. When practiced intentionally, it becomes a protective advantage for drivers, workers, and leaders alike.

Join the conversation and discover how to replace “never saw it coming” with “I saw it early—and acted.”

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the early warning signs of reduced awareness

• Break out of autopilot thinking

• Anticipate hazards before they escalate

• Apply simple techniques to strengthen focus and decision-making

Terrence Taylor

Psychological safety doesn’t come from posters or policies — it’s built through the stories people share every day.
In this 60-minute interactive session, Terrence Taylor introduces the S.A.F.E. Places™ model — a story-driven framework that helps leaders and teams turn real-world experiences into safer, more connected workplaces.

Using a short dramatized story and a guided blindfold exercise, participants will feel psychological safety before they analyze it. The experience immerses them in what it means to Share, Ask, Foster, and Embody safety — the four moves at the core of the model.

Through this mix of narrative, reflection, and sensory learning, attendees will see how small communication habits can transform trust, morale, and performance. Designed for safety professionals, HR leaders, and managers, this session connects the dots between psychological safety, DEI, and leadership in a practical, memorable way.

By the end, participants will leave not just informed — but equipped with a repeatable framework they can apply Monday morning to build their own S.A.F.E. Places.

Learning Objectives:

• Explain the four steps of the S.A.F.E. model — Share, Ask, Foster, and Embody — and how they drive psychological safety.

• Use storytelling to uncover hidden fears and improve real-time communication during high-stress moments.

• Apply sensory and story-based techniques to training, leadership meetings, and incident debriefs.

• Create simple team rituals that sustain psychological safety beyond the session (like the “Monday huddle” or “weird noise jar”).

• Recognize and model behavior that builds trust and belonging across hierarchy and role.

Mitch Brewer

The objective of Nova Scotia Power’s Electrical Awareness: Working Safely Near Powerlines presentation is to educate at-risk groups/individuals, employers, and public about our electrical infrastructure and the hazards associated with coming in contact or proximity to them; furthermore, what to do in the event you inadvertently come in contact or in proximity to our infrastructure.

Learning Objectives:

• NSPI Safe Clearance Report process

• Hazards associated with work around our systems.

• Step Potential

• Touch Potential

• Reclosers

• Generators/Transfer Switch/Back-Feed

Tracey Newman

Jennifer Schnare

More information to come.

Maureen Cudmore

Wildfire smoke is an increasingly serious environmental health hazard in Canada, with widespread impacts on both indoor and outdoor work environments. This session will explore how organizations can protect the health and safety of workers during periods of heavy smoke exposure, whether in offices or outdoor worksites. Drawing from Health Canada’s most recent air quality and health guidance, this talk will provide clear, actionable steps that employers and safety committees can take before, during, and after smoke events to enhance preparedness for wildfire smoke exposure. It will help ensure that worker safety and well-being remain top priorities even under challenging air quality conditions. Topics include understanding air quality forecasts (e.g., the Air Quality Health Index) and alerts, recognizing health symptoms, communicating risk effectively, implementing workplace controls (ventilation, filtration, source control, PPE), and educating workers on individual protective measures during prolonged exposure events.

Learning Objectives:

1. Recognize how wildfire smoke affects work environments and identify key health risks for workers.

2. Interpret air quality forecasts and alerts, including the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI), to guide protective decisions.

3. Apply practical measures, such as ventilation, filtration, and PPE, to reduce exposure risks.

4. Communicate smoke risks effectively and support worker awareness and preparedness during poor air quality conditions.

Wendy Himmelman

Joy Moore

Joe Shanahan

Creating Successful Return-to-Work Outcomes: Meeting the New Duty to Cooperate Standards.

Join Eastern Return to Work Solutions for a focused, practical session designed for employers, HR professionals, and supervisors who want to strengthen their Return-to-Work (RTW) and accommodation practices.

With evolving legislation and an increased focus on psychological health, employers are being asked to do more than ever to support employees’ safe and sustainable return to work. This session will help you understand your responsibilities, reduce claim costs, and build a workplace culture that supports both physical and psychological recovery.

Learning Objectives:

1. How to develop effective RTW plans for both physical and psychological injuries

2. Practical strategies for implementing workplace accommodations that work

3. Key elements of the new Duty to Accommodate legislation — and what it means for your business

4. How to engage employees, healthcare providers, and insurers in a collaborative RTW process

5. Tools and strategies you can use right away to strengthen compliance and reduce claim durations

Peter Duvenage

Paige Hall

Larissa Quigley

Jo McConnell

Craig McKillop

Arthur Gaudreau

The students will be presenting on different aspects of health and wellness in the workplace, speaking from their personal experience. Health and wellness is an area of occupational health and safety that has become increasingly important in recent years, and yet is still not widely adopted across industries. The presentation aims to touch on different aspects of health and wellness in the workplace - from “Breaking the Stigmas of Neurodiversity and Mental health”, to the “Importance of Community and Return to Work following Serious Workplace Injuries”. The students hope to shine a light on modern day health and wellness strategies in the workplace as it relates to OHS&E.

Learning Objective:

• Increased awareness of health and wellness in the workplace – practical approaches to help your employees.

Jessica Dawson

Every workplace has a “path to the future”—the systems, habits, and decisions that move us toward safer, smarter work. But alongside that path is something just as familiar: the shortcut. The quick fix. The “I’ve done this a thousand times.” The “It’ll only take a second.”

This session explores why people drift off the safe path even when they know better, and how small, everyday choices shape the future of safety more than any policy ever will. Through real stories, light humour, and relatable examples, we’ll look at the subtle pressures, routines, and assumptions that lead to shortcuts—and the simple, practical ways leaders can guide people back onto the right path without lectures or blame.

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze the human and organizational factors that drive shortcut-taking and drift from safe work practices.

• Evaluate how everyday decisions and local workarounds shape safety outcomes more powerfully than formal controls alone.

• Apply practical, non-blaming strategies to influence safer choices in real work, in the moment and over time.

Paul Pickering

In this interactive session Paul Pickering will be raising awareness, developing skills and blending his own 30 years in this field with the experiences and perspectives of attendees. The activity he has planned for us identifies specific ways to support both immigrants and those Canadian-born to co-establish intercultural workplaces where communication skills, and health and wellness rise along with retention. Paul will use a small number of powerpoint slides to reinforce and support his messages, while encouraging attendees in small groups to consider their own aspects of diversity as a starting point towards engaging with less familiar aspects in others. Moving into aspects or “dimensions” of culture, he will help attendees to identify specific skills that are useful and situations where they can be used. As well be seen, Intercultural Competence directly correlates to increased health and wellness for individuals and organizations. Question/answer and mini-debriefs will ensure that by the end of the hour, all those present will have had many opportunities to engage and process this fascinating and highly useful area of organizational support.

Learning Objectives:

• Attendees will have engaged with:

• Intercultural competence

• Intercultural Skills or “Competencies”

• Intercultural Aspects or “Dimensions”

• Attendees will know how to find resources for further professional development.

David Powers

Our supervisors are the heartbeat of frontline culture—and the most powerful leverage point for elevating safety performance. This session showcases how a modular training approach can transform supervisors into confident, capable safety leaders who drive consistent, lasting change.

Through focused, bitesized learning blocks, supervisors gain exactly what they need—practical tools, realworld skills, and clear expectations—without overwhelming their schedules. This approach accelerates learning, boosts engagement, and ensures that safety behaviours become embedded in daily operations rather than treated as onetime events.

Walk away with a blueprint for equipping your frontline leaders to influence attitudes, reinforce safe practices, and champion a proactive safety culture—all while supporting operational efficiency.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the critical influence supervisors have on shaping frontline safety culture and how their daily actions directly impact engagement, compliance, and risk reduction.

• Explain the benefits of a modular safety training approach and why bitesized, targeted learning accelerates supervisor competency and longterm retention.

• Identify essential safety leadership skills supervisors must master—including communication, hazard recognition, coaching, and accountability—and understand how modular training supports each skill area.

Mathew MacLeod

The introduction of artificial intelligence and other technological advancements is reshaping the workplace, with profound implications for occupational health and safety. While these innovations have the potential to enhance safety, well-being, and operational efficiency, they also introduce new challenges, including concerns about technological inequality, job security, and privacy. To fully realize the benefits while addressing these risks, comprehensive and well-scoped risk assessments are essential whenever changes occur in the workplace. These assessments can help identify and mitigate potential hazards, ensuring worker safety and maintaining operational integrity. Join in on the conversation as we discuss the benefits and challenges and explore practical strategies for integrating technology into health and safety programs while safeguarding the workforce and looking at ways to mitigate new hazards using risk assessments.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand how AI might be used in the workplace

• Recognize potential health and safety implications of using AI

• Learn strategies to help address AI related health and safety impacts