The National Canadian Society of Safety Engineers (CSSE) Professional Development Conference held its first Indigenous Meet and Greet to get networking going among Indigenous CSSE Safety Professionals and those interested in OHS activities in Indigenous communities. Glooscap Ventures' Health & Safety Officer, Stacey Maguire lead this initiative. Glooscap put together a video focused on OHS activities here in Glooscap. At the leadership breakfast during the conference, Chief Sidney Peters' message was played as an introduction to a new CSSE initiative they are launching called an Indigenous Task Force which will focus on the Truth and Reconciliation Call to Action number 92.
The Indigenous meet and greet was organized and held on Tuesday Sept 18th. About 20 CSSE Executives and Board members as well as general CSSE members attended, including the Executive Director, President and Regional Vice Presidents. The members who attended and were very excited to learn more and be involved in some way going forward. The video as a whole was shown to this audience and everyone really loved it! The next steps for this Task Force will be to put out a General Call to the entire CSSE membership (5000 across Canada) for Committee members and to develop objectives.
About the CSSE Conference:
The CSSE Professional Development Conference (PDC) & Exhibition is a 3-day, annual conference and trade show held in September of each year.
The conference is delivered in a destination location which alternates between eastern, western, and central Canada. The association's Annual General Meeting also takes place during the PDC each year.
CSSE is one of the most important safety organizations in Canada and the PDC presents session programming that provides attendees with the most current safety information, tools, and practices.
The PDC offers a number of keynote presentations, half-day workshops, and concurrent sessions. Attending the CSSE PDC is an excellent way to earn certification maintenance points as well. Beyond the educational aspect of the conference is the networking and sharing of lessons learned with fellow safety practitioners that set the CSSE's PDC apart from other conferences. There are endless opportunities to network through breaks, lunches, and social events.
Attending the CSSE's Professional Development Conference enhances prevention and safety knowledge and skills, which enables safety practitioners to provide better service and prevention planning for their companies and employees/clients.