Cindy Wilkins has over three decades of experience in hazardous waste, construction, and consulting. She has spent her career navigating some of the most complex and high-risk environments around. And now she’s bringing her real-life insights to the Health and Safety Management program at Kompass.
We spoke with Cindy recently to learn more about her career journey and the evolving challenges facing today’s health and safety professionals.
Here are the highlights of that conversation.
Q. Cindy, could you share a bit about your education and professional background in health and safety?
Cindy: I graduated from the University of Guelph with a degree in environmental engineering. I then went to Conestoga College and obtained a diploma in occupational health and safety. I’m a licensed engineer in Ontario.
I’ve spent over 30 years in the hazardous waste business through different companies like Safety-Kleen, Clean Harbors, and GFL Environmental. I’ve also worked in construction and in consulting.
Most of what I’ve done has been extremely high-risk health and safety programs, from administration to field-level boots on the ground.
Q. What inspired you to go from environmental engineering into health and safety?
Cindy: I found that environmental compliance and legislation is very closely related to health and safety legislation and regulations. Those two disciplines really go hand in hand.
Environmental is very heavy on the regulatory aspects and compliance with the rules, whereas health and safety is more about human behaviour. There’s a different tactic on how you approach both of those disciplines, but they’re very close to each other.
Q. What sort of opportunities are available in this field?
Cindy: Pretty much every company needs some form of health and safety, whether they’re a high-risk type of organization or a straightforward office environment.
You can decide whether you want to be the person in the field providing that education and mentorship or whether you want to become more of an executive.
Q. What do you hope students take away from the Health and Safety Management certificate?
Cindy: Health and safety is a bit of a sales job. I want students to understand that without buy-in from the executive team, the statistics really don’t change at all. You have to get buy-in from the board. That to me is probably the biggest thing: understanding that health and safety starts at the top.
If the executive team doesn’t actually walk the walk and put the money in health and safety and invest in it, you’re not going to get anywhere.
Q. What are some of the biggest issues facing health and safety professionals today?
Cindy: One is changes in legislation. In construction, for instance, Ontario is moving away from their specific COR program to an ISO-based program, which is fantastic because it provides more of a worldwide standard. But you need to keep up with the changes.
There’s a shifting workforce as well. We have people who are new to Canada or new to the industry, and some of the struggle is making sure that we provide them with the tools that they need to do their jobs properly and go home safe every day.
So to me, the big struggle is making sure we stay on top of the legislation and change our approach given the landscape of the employees that we’re working with right now.
Q. How does one break into the health and safety field and work toward a leadership role?
Cindy: Take ownership. If you see something, say something.
If you see something that’s wrong in the field or something that someone could perhaps do better, take that moment and use it as an opportunity for learning. Don’t point fingers at anybody; instead, teach and mentor.
It doesn’t matter what role you have. You could be a field-level employee that wants to get into more of a management role. If you show up every day and think to yourself, what do I have to do to be safe and what do I have to do to keep my fellow employees safe, that changes the mindset and provides an opportunity to think outside the box on how you can improve yourself and those around you.
It's never about pointing fingers. It’s about improving everyone and making sure everyone has the tools and the education they need to stay safe every day.
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.
