MBiz

6 WINTER 2021 SALES & SERVICE SAFETY ASSOCIATION E ffective workplace health and safety programs have the power to keep people safe and prevent major business disruption. However, the process of creating and maintaining a workplace safety plan can be a challenge for many businesses, one that has only become more difficult since the global pandemic began. Rising to the opportunity, the Sales and Service Safety Association (S2SA) offers insight, tools, and resources to help businesses create and grow their workplace health and safety programs. In the tumult of the last 20 months, S2SA's Safety Development Program has proven to be particularly crucial. It's a role that seems poised to grow in 2022, as S2SA prepares to launch a more direct path to safety as one of the comprehensive services it offers to the sales and service industry sectors. Starting in January 2022, S2SA will offer an instructor-led path within its larger Safety Development Program. This new, goal-focused avenue is aimed at organizations looking for the fastest route to a workplace health and safety program. Building upon S2SA's other offerings, this option includes regularly scheduled sessions with S2SA's certified safety advisors that will help employers overcome common setbacks which can occur while developing a workplace safety program. This loss of momentum is a common occurrence, according to Jacquelyn Oduro, Safety Program Director at S2SA. "We have seen, throughout our years of experience, that employers want to develop safety programs, but it's usually tasked to someone who wears multiple hats, often with many competing responsibilities, and sometimes it can be due to turnover, a new software system implementation, or more recently, due to COVID," reports Oduro. "Unfortunately, all these factors can cause companies to struggle to keep up the momentum, and to have to restart, relearn and re-coach." The newly introduced approach to S2SA's Safety Development Program gives employers an actionable 12-month timeline, where a dedicated safety advisor leads participants through the process. In the end, those who complete the program will have built up and implemented the key components of a workplace health and safety program — one that is suited to their industry and needs as an employer. In addition to providing employers with a guided plan to keep their safety programs on track, the instructor-led path of the Safety Development Program attaches accountability to the workplace safety program. The classroom-style webinar sessions led by a dedicated S2SA instructor are designed to keep development moving forward, but S2SA foresees built-in benefits for participants. "One of the big draws of this program is that companies will be able to draw from each other for ideas," says Oduro. "It's a network opportunity, in which people can share what's working, discuss what's not working, and find easier and better ways to make safety work in their companies." Perhaps one of the most surprising aspects of S2SA's Safety Development Program is the low cost. For the upcoming series (January to December 2022), the cost is just $750. This includes all 12 monthly sessions, ready access to S2SA's team of safety advisors, and numerous resources and reference materials created by S2SA over years of practice. Thanks to the Safety Development Program, developing your workplace safety program has never been easier. "Gone are the days in which organizations can operate without a safety program," says Oduro. "It's incumbent on employers to provide safe workplaces, and by choosing our Safety Development Program, over the course of just one year, participating employers will have developed the fundamental pieces of a workplace safety program. It's a unique promise that only the S2SA provides." ■ To learn more about the Sales and Service Safety Association and the Safety Development Program or if you have questions about your own workplace health and safety programs, call 204-779-8296 or email info@s2sa.ca. S2SA PROVIDES a New Path to Workplace Safety Jacquelyn Oduro, Safety Program Director at S2SA BY DUSTIN RODGERS

• Cover