Industrial heat exchanger manufacturer, Exchanger Industries Limited (EIL) has announced that Safety Manager Susan Goebel has been named Canada’s Top Woman in Safety 2022 by Canadian Occupational Safety magazine. The prestigious award follows Exchanger Industries’ success in Canada’s Safest Employers awards 2021, when the company was named Canada’s Safest Manufacturing Employer.
This award for Susan recognises her role in creating a safe working culture at Exchanger Industries and the development and implementation of the company’s Safety Management System. Being named Canada’s Top Woman in Safety marks a pinnacle in a 22-year career in occupational health and safety for Susan, who has been in her current role for eight-and-a-half-years.
Susan studied at the University of Alberta, and has held Canada’s highest professional safety certification, Canadian Registered Safety Professional (CRSP) since 2007. She joined Exchanger Industries as Safety Manager in October 2013 when she began to build on the firm’s existing health and safety programmes. “I strongly believe that the key to safety is not to tell people what to do, but to tell them why they should be doing it,” Susan comments.
This philosophy has seen the establishment of a safety philosophy at all levels of Exchanger Industries. “We have a culture of safety now and our workers believe in safety,” she continues. “Part of the submission for last year’s Canada’s Safest Employers awards was a perception survey across all of our employees and this underlined the high perception of health and safety that everyone has in the business.” In October 2021, Exchanger Industries marked seven years without a lost-time accident. That’s over 1.6 million working hours without a serious incident.
Commenting on the award, Susan says, “I was quite surprised to be named Canada’s Top Woman in Safety for 2022 as it wasn’t something I had previously considered. However, as probably the highest accomplishment in Canadian safety, it feels like a huge recognition for what I have achieved in my career, and I am very honoured. I think one of the reasons for the award is that I have been able to show how I’ve made a difference to the health and safety culture at Exchanger Industries.
“As a manufacturer of heat exchangers and waste heat boilers, particularly in the energy sector, the factory is involved in a lot of heavy industry and potentially dangerous activities, such as moving heavy equipment, welding, working with heat, and working at height to name just a few. Our safety record is testament to the way that everyone across the business has embraced our Safety Program.”
Gavin Exon, Exchanger Industries’ vice president, operations, comments, “Everyone at Exchanger Industries is delighted for Susan. This award is independent recognition of the fantastic job that she has done, and continues to do, in terms of ensuring that safety is embedded in everything we do as a company. Susan and her work are one of the key reasons EIL was named Canada’s Safest Manufacturing Employer in 2021, and so it is great to see her achievements recognised at a personal level as well.”
