CREDIBILITY,
CREATIVITY AND
COMPASSION
Thanks to Rae Ann Aldridge,
this year's Safety Leader of the
Year, the University of Calgary
is the only post-secondary
institution with COR for its
entire operation
fter receiving her undergraduate degree
in chemical engineering, Rae Ann
Aldridge's first job was writing mate-
rial safety data sheets at a consulting
firm. About one month in, her manager asked
her to help out in the firm's industrial hygiene
(IH) group and that sealed the deal — she fell
in love with occupational health and safety
and has never looked back.
"I really loved the IH work. Every day was
something new and different and interesting.
I got to go into all kinds of work environ-
ments, everything from huge GM plants in the
(United) States to little dry cleaning plants,"
says Aldridge. "And when I monitor and I find
elevated levels, I can make a difference to their
life and their health."
Aldridge is now the associate vice-president
of risk at the University of Calgary and the
winner of the 2018 Safety Leader of the Year
award, presented by Canadian Occupational
Safety. One of the reasons she is deserving of
this award is for leading the organization in
achieving its Certificate of Recognition (COR).
The university is the first post-secondary insti-
tution to achieve this certification for the entire
university and it's among one of the largest
employers with the certification in Alberta.
The nature of the activities that take place at
the university further proves why achieving
this high standard is such an accomplishment.
The university has 115 buildings, 14 faculties,
four campuses in the Calgary area and 900
research labs using animals, radioisotopes,
pathogens and all kinds of chemicals. It has
30,000 students and 5,000 employees. Plus,
it contributes nearly $8 billion annually to
Alberta's economy.
But achieving COR was a journey and it
didn't happen overnight, says Aldridge. It began
with a baseline audit in which the university
scored very low. Aldridge and her team got to
work on developing policies and procedures
and standardizing documentation — then
the real heavy lifting began. One of the out-
of-the-box ideas Aldridge had was to engage a
consultant to deliver 165 workshops on hazard
By Amanda Silliker
18 Canadian Occupational Safety | www.cos-mag.com
