Sulman Malik is a certified safety professional with an impressive background that spans healthcare, construction, and manufacturing.
He holds multiple degrees in physiotherapy and ergonomics, as well as advanced certifications in health and safety from top universities. He has first-hand experience building safety cultures that empower employees at every level. And now he’s bringing his expertise to the Health and Safety Management program at Kompass.
We spoke with Sulman recently to learn more about his career journey and the evolving challenges facing today’s health and safety professionals.
Here are the highlights of that conversation.
Q. Can you share a bit about your education and professional background in health and safety?
Sulman: I am a certified safety professional in both Canada and the US, and I am a certified member of the Institute of Occupational Health and Safety in the UK.
I did my post-graduate work in occupational health and safety at the University of Western Ontario. I have three university degrees in physiotherapy and ergonomics and a couple of certificates from Rice University in ergonomics, plus an advanced occupational health and safety course from the University of Toronto.
I have done Joint Health and Safety Committee part one and two in Ontario. I have a working at heights certificate and first aid certificate, and I am a PMP (project management professional) as well.
I’m currently the Environment, Health, and Safety Manager at ADM, a US-based food manufacturing company. Previously, I was in the construction industry for a couple of years, and before that I have lots of experience in the healthcare industry back home in Pakistan.
I also have teaching experience both back home and in Canada.
Q. What inspired you to go into health and safety?
Sulman: Everyone asks me that and the answer is very amazing. Two years back, I applied to the Master of Public Health in Occupational Health and Safety at the University of Toronto. That is one of the most competitive programs in the whole world. There are only five seats. And I was admitted based on my answer to this question.
I did three degrees in physiotherapy. And right from day one in med school, we were taught that prevention is better than cure. But after a few years as a clinician, I never saw prevention in physiotherapy.
Prevention comes in health and safety. Why not stay one step ahead of injuries and treatment? So that’s why I started working in this profession.
One incident reinforced this for me. I went with my student to a village area in my home country and there was a very specific hospital for disabled people. The head of the department briefed us that they have 284 cases of hand amputation in one year. In that province, because the agriculture is not automated, they cut the grass manually with a special machine. And unfortunately they often cut off right up to the shoulder.
In the country I come from, there is very little awareness of health and safety. Most companies are unaware of health and safety because legislation is lacking.
Q. What are the key attributes or qualities that someone needs to really thrive in this field?
Sulman: Empathy is number one. Number two is communication skills. You have to be proactive rather than reactive. You also need good anticipation skills to identify hazards.
A safety professional must be a people person because you have to meet everyone from the CEO to the front-line worker. And you have to be a good listener.
Q. What would you say are some of the biggest challenges facing health and safety professionals today?
Sulman: The challenges are different depending on whether the organization has a safety culture. Let’s speak about an organization that lacks that culture.
Getting people to understand the importance of safety is the most challenging thing. If people don’t internalize that, you have a problem. If someone is watching them, they follow all the rules and regulations and wear the PPE. But once they are alone, they take shortcuts.
So creating awareness and giving a sense of ownership and responsibility to each person is a big challenge. But once you overcome this challenge, then it’s autopilot.
In my current place, we are celebrating 20 years without lost time. Literally in the last three years, there was not a single day when I had to remind any colleague that hey man, you forgot to wear your hard hat, you forgot to wear your safety goggles.
Q. What kinds of challenges arise in a place like yours where the safety culture is well developed?
Sulman: Documentation is a challenge. At my workplace, we have a big 100-foot silo, and if somebody has to go inside for annual cleaning purposes, we have to fill out six different forms. There’s a safe work permit, working at heights, hot work permit, confined space permit, final product zone permit. And then each and every worker who is going inside or standing outside has to fill in their own last-minute risk assessment. So it’s a lot of documentation.
Normally the front-line workers are not happy about doing this paperwork. I try to overcome this by helping with the documentation as much as I can.
Q. What would you say is the best part of working in health and safety?
Sulman: Helping people. Talking to each and every person and listening to their issues. Most of the time they want to discuss these things with upper management, but they are reluctant to do so. I’m very friendly, so they normally share those things with me as opposed to their supervisor. It feels good to help people.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE HEALTH AND SAFETY MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATE
The Health and Safety Management certificate from Kompass is designed for those with a health and safety background who want to improve their leadership skills. It’s also a good fit for professionals in mid to upper management who want to learn how to promote a culture of safety and wellness within their organization.
Training is delivered online and can be spread over 10 to 20 weeks.
Click below to explore the certificate in more detail and chat live with an admissions advisor.
