The County of Wellington was recognized as one of the safest employers to work for in the country at an awards ceremony in Toronto on Oct. 28.
The county will be featured, alongside all the winners, in the November issue of Canadian Occupational Safety magazine. The county received a gold award for both Psychological Safety and Public Sector.
“For the second year in a row the County of Wellington has been recognized as one of the safest employers in the country,” said Warden Chris White. “The county is committed to providing a safe working environment. We have a comprehensive health and safety management program and annual training for all staff and council members.”
“This year, we decided to launch a brand new award to recognize excellence in psychological safety,” said Amanda Silliker, editor of Canadian Occupational Safety.
“More and more employers are starting to take employees’ mental health seriously and recognize psychological injuries can be just as damaging as physical ones. We applaud the County of Wellington for being the inaugural winner of this award.”
The competition is open to all Canadian employers, who meet the eligibility criteria:
– be an employer in Canada for the last five years or more;
– not incurred any serious injury or fatality, which resulted in investigation and subsequent charges under provincial occupational health and safety laws, workers’ compensation legislation and/or the Criminal Code, in the last five years; and
– have not been convicted of any charge under provincial occupational health and safety laws, workers’ compensation legislation and/or the Criminal Code, in the last five years.
“The county’s human resources department takes proactive steps to ensure that we continue to maintain high levels of health and safety by regularly auditing our own practices,” commented Andrea Lawson, director of human resources for the county. “We’re very proud of this recognition and will continue to educate and train staff on safety procedures and best practices.”
Canada’s Safest Employers Award is presented by Canadian Occupational Safety. Launched in 2011, the awards recognize Canadian companies with outstanding accomplishments in promoting the health and safety of their workers.
National HR award
The county won another national award on Nov. 7 at the Canadian HR Awards Gala at the Liberty Grand Entertainment Complex in Toronto, as part of a series of global HR events organized by HRD Magazine.
Wellington won in the category for The KPMG Award for “Best Health and Wellness Strategy.” Nominations are the result of months of research and surveying, and finalists are judged by an independent panel. The awards are presented by HRD Magazine and HRMonline.ca.
“The County of Wellington’s corporate health and wellness objective is to create, promote and maintain a culture of health, wellness and safety,” said Lawson.
Wellington beat out both public organizations and private companies in this category, such as the Co-operators, Town of Newmarket, Vancouver Police Department, the City of Edmonton, Science North, Interior Health and Northern Health.
