Environmental Health & Safety participatied in the 2022 Concordia Engagement Awards on April 13, 2022. EHS has recognized and encourage safe practices at Concordia over the years.

This year the Safety Awards were handed out to three recipients. These recipients inspired and maintained best practices in health and safety. The recipients are members of the Concordia community who have made significant changes, overcome barriers and had an impact on safety on campus.

2022 Safety Ambassador Award Recipients

Guy Gosselin is the Planning & Operation Facilities Manager, Gina Cody School of Engineering (GCS). Guy continually plans, improves, and enhances the engineering facilities used and moving resources around to allow the furthering of the research goals of all the departments in GCS. He prioritizes safety in a pre-emptive manner and includes Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) and GCS safety technician early in the workflow.

Nathan McDonald Fortier is an Engineering student who serves as the Chief Safety Officer of Space Concordia's Rocketry Division. Nathan runs the Rocketry's Division training program and ensures every member is trained. The Rocketry Division has developed a sophisticated internal system to track training and ensure the safety of its members and everyone involved in the project. Nathan’s commitment, guidance, and hard work keeps everyone safe.

Lauren Farley is the Director of Residence Life. Lauren led her team in establishing very clear safety procedures and protocols for the health and safety return of the students in residence and their successful reopening. The residences would not have been able to remain open during the pandemic without the due diligence demonstrated by Lauren.

Previous Safety Ambassador Recipients

Safety Award Winners 2020

Ehab Francis Shehata

Ehab is a member of the Facilities Management team and has demonstrated initiative, leadership, and creativity while working on the University’s elevator project and implemented safety guards on the mechanical equipment.

Ehab has shown initiative by successfully completing a long list of corrective actions within a short timeline and under budget. In collaborating with CNESST inspectors, a cost effective solution was established to improving safety when working on the elevators with a customizable guardrail.

This project has greatly improved the safety for elevator technicians and reduced the risk by limiting access to the trades’ personnel to these areas.

“I was motivated to implement the safety elevator machine safety guards. It is our responsibility to provide a safe working environment for our employees that is free of any hazards that may cause physical harm”.

Kathleen McAleese

Kathleen, a department assistant in the Department of Design & Computations Arts, has received certification as a fire monitor, Concordia Emergency Response Team (CERT) training, and is CPR/First Aid certified.

In addition to these certifications, Kathleen tends to the needs of faculty, staff and students in the Department. Kathleen has once leaped to the aid of the Department Chair when they fainted in the administrative area and is always able to help and direct distressed students to the appropriate Concordia services.

Kathleen is a very compassionate an indispensable individual who looks out for the interests of all faculty, staff, and students.

“Ever since I joined the CERT (Concordia Emergency Response Team), I realized that ‘being safe’ is a full time gig. I am so proud of being an employee of Concordia University and I wanted to help others in some small way, so when I had the opportunity to join, I took this role very seriously. It has given me great pride in working with a team of amazing people who are charged with keeping our faculty, staff and students safe and ensuring that they can work and learn in an environment that makes them feel secure and protected”.

Sonia Ruiz

Sonia, a technical officer for the Department of Biology has ensured a safe work environment in classrooms, research labs and facilities.

Sonia oversees the implementation of safe laboratory and research practices across a large academic unit, and has been a member of various safety committees at the university. Sonia has played an important role in creating an environment where trainees learn how to keep themselves and others safe as well as sharing information on safety practices that has improved the overall safe working environment of the unit and the university.

Sonia’s commitment, knowledge and eagerness to assist others when it comes to safety has been beneficial to the greater academic and research community.

"When it comes to workplace safety, I do not believe leadership is about being in the front but rather being on the side, guiding others to move forward".

Safety Award Winners 2018

2018 Award Recipients

Alison Rowley

Alison’s passion for safety is not a new development. In high school, she was the first woman to complete a part time EMT program, while completing full time studies, participating in varsity sports, and achieving a black belt in Taekwondo.

Here at Concordia, Alison has continued to challenge herself, organizing a Med Club in her residence at the Grey Nuns building, and working closely with campus security to train 18 residents in emergency procedures and response, First Aid and CPR, and fire prevention and extinguisher techniques.

Moving forward, Alison lwill continuing her work with the Concordia Emergency Response Team (CERT), writing the MCAT.

Andy Shin-Pong

Andy Shin-Pong has worked at Concordia University for over 2 years now and brings with him strong knowledge in manufacturing and machining, as well as, expertise in many construction r elated fields.

One of his many professional goals is to guarantee student success, while ensuring that their studies and research are carried out through safe and effective methods. One of his biggest accomplishments was leading the Building, Civil & Environmental Engineering laboratory air quality improvement project in 2017 where he collaborated closely with Concordia’s Environmental Health and Safety team and multiple members of Facilities Management.

He supported the daily needs of this large scale project and ensured that targets were met even if it meant working under tight constraints and physically challenging conditions. Always ready to take on the next challenge with fresh and new ideas and putting safety practices at the top of his priority list, Andy has proven himself to be a great resource and an added value to the BCEE family.

Jules Beauchamp-Desbiens

A recent graduate from Concordia University in Design, Jules Beauchamp-Desbiens is currently working both as a Digital-Fabrication La b Technician and as a freelance industrial designer.

Jules' attention to detail and care for health and safety was exemplary during the construction of the Solar Decathlon house at Loyola Campus in 2017. During the construction of the Solar-Decathlon house, Jules actively promoted safety on the site, by both leading by example and being an advocate to his colleagues. His was equally committed on ensuring the safety of the site for the many visitors. During the 6-month construction period, there were no injuries.

Lock-Out-Tag-Out (LOTO) Working Group

Crée en avril 2017, ce groupe se compose de 20 employés de différents métiers et niveaux hiérarchiques du service de gestion opérationnelle de l’université Concordia. Sa mission principale est de permettre l’intégration de la nouvelle réglementation en matière de maîtrise des énergies dangereuses et ainsi d’améliorer la sécurité des travailleurs ayant à intervenir dans les zones dangereuses des équipements. Pour ce faire, ils produisent les procédures de cadenassage pour l’ensemble des équipements (électriques, plomberies et mécaniques) et participent au choix et à la répartition des équipements de sécurité. La grande implication des membres de cette équipe ont permis d’avancer plus rapidement que dans d’autres organisation.

Leur compréhension et leur conviction de l’importance de cette réglementation en matière de sécurité alliées à leurs connaissances techniques ont également favorisé l’utilisation pratique des mesures de sécurité par leurs collègues de travail.

2022 Concordia Safety Ambassador Awards

2022 Safety Ambassador Award Recipients

Safety Award Winners 2020

Safety Award Winners 2018

2018 Award Recipients

Safety Award Winners 2016