Safe Workplace Promotion Services Ontario
Board of Directors

Call for Applications

The Ontario prevention system recently restructured its programs and services to better assist Ontario businesses in reducing the number of injuries, illnesses, and fatalities in their workplaces. As a result of these changes, 12 of the province’s health and safety associations have amalgamated to form four new organizations, effective January 1, 2010. One of these organizations is Safe Workplace Promotion Services Ontario (SWPSO), which includes Farm Safety Association (FSA), Industrial Accident Prevention Association (IAPA), and Ontario Service Safety Alliance (OSSA).

The SWPSO Advisory Group is searching for candidates with senior executive and leadership experience from Ontario’s industrial, service, and farming sectors who have vision, leadership, and commitment. This is an opportunity to provide leadership in the health and safety field within the business community and influence the strategic direction of SWPSO. This is also an opportunity for your company to be recognized as a leader in healthy workplaces.

Role of the Board of Directors

The Board of Directors is accountable for the leadership, oversight, policy direction, monitoring, and stewardship of SWPSO. The Board has a fiduciary duty to act honestly and in good faith in the best interests of SWPSO and with the core diligence and skill of a reasonably prudent person.

Specific responsibilities and accountabilities are:

Oversight of the organization’s affairs: recruiting, monitoring, and evaluating the Chief Executive Officer
Setting strategic direction
Setting policy and ensuring the safeguarding of resources
Monitoring and measuring corporate performance and accounting to its members and stakeholders.

These are volunteer positions.

Competency Requirements and Definitions

1. Health and Safety

knowledge in health and safety issues and processes, and their application in organizations.
ability to interpret provincial statistics and connect to SWPSO activities.

2. Finance/Accounting

ability to understand and interpret financial statements, and to assess the financial implications of business decisions.

3. Business Acumen

ability to understand and project the long-term impact of decisions, and to see the overall context in which decisions are made.

4. Risk Management

ability to understand the business implications of decisions, and assess the risks associated with those decisions, at an organization-wide level.
an awareness of broad business issues and outcomes as they impact the organization’s strategic direction.

5. Technology

6. Human Resources

7. Law

knowledge and understanding of legal and regulatory issues impacting the organizations within the health and safety system.

8. Policy Development

ability to translate business and regulatory issues that impact the organization into policies that can be implemented within the organization.

9. Corporate Governance

knowledge and experience with corporate governance and activities that facilitate best practices in a not-for-profit organization.

10. Public Relations and Communications

ability to establish and maintain a network of contacts and professional relationships with people who can contribute to the achievement of the organization’s objectives; and to portray a positive message about health and safety issues.

11. Leadership

ability to set, communicate, and enlist support for direction of a team or group.
ability to direct the group, and remove roadblocks, to ensure the successful achievement of the group’s goals.

Time Commitment

Directors are expected to regularly attend meetings, participate on committees, and attend events. The Board of Directors meets six times a year, including an off-site planning and review workshop. Board committee meetings are usually conducted by teleconference. As this is a new organization, the time commitments in the first 12-18 months are likely to be more extensive.

Appointment and Election Process – Terms of Office

At the first election of directors, all directors shall be elected for a one-year term. Thereafter, at least three directors shall retire annually. Following the first meeting of the directors or as soon thereafter as possible, it shall be determined by lot which of them shall hold office for one, two, or three year terms respectively, the determination shall be entered in the minutes of the meeting, and such slate of candidates and their respective terms shall be presented for election at the next annual meeting of members.

At every annual general meeting thereafter, all directors elected at such meetings shall be elected for a term of three years to fill the places of the retiring directors, who shall be eligible for re-election, subject to six years being the maximum period of time that a director shall serve on the Board of Directors.