Meet our Occupational Health and Safety team

Ever wondered who oversees occupational health and safety for our Osler team members?

We caught up with the managers of our Occupational Health and Safety team, Steven Sloan and Ramandeep Pama, to take an inside look at what goes into protecting everyone within our walls.

First up, what are your roles within the team?

Steven Sloan: I am the Occupational Health and Safety Manager, and my focus is more on the safety side. Our department supports about 10,000 employees, physicians, students, contractors and volunteers – that’s a lot of people. This includes reducing risk and preventing incidents.

Ramandeep Pama: I am the Occupational Health and Abilities Manager, and my area of focus is the health side. I oversee Osler’s occupational health nurses and the abilities management specialists. Our focus is immunizations at onboarding and annual follow-ups, supporting physicians, managing potential infectious illnesses, short term disability and work accommodations.

What is occupational health and safety?

SS: For me, it’s all about preventing risk and keeping all of our staff safe. Our top priority is to ensure the safety and wellness of our staff.

RP: I look at occupational health and safety as the heart of the organization. As Steven mentioned, we ensure our staff stays healthy by providing them with the support and guidance they need. We want to ensure our staff feel supported and safe when they come to work every day.

What does a typical day for you look like?

SS & RR: There is no typical day; every day is different!

SS: You can say we do a lot of issues management throughout the day. We always look for ways to improve processes to provide the best support and guidance to our staff through complex issues that may arise.

RP: Agreed. And if and when issues arise, we do everything we can to identify them early and provide recommendations and solutions. In addition to this, we provide support to all staff through new hire health assessments, first aid, immunization testing, medical surveillance and flu clinics – the list can go on!

What are some of the common misconceptions about occupational health and safety?

SS: One for sure is when we are confused with occupational therapy, which happens often. Occupational therapy focuses on our patients’ wellness by helping them regain independence after injury or illness, whereas we focus on keeping our staff healthy and safe.

RP: Another misconception is that we are Human Resources. Though we do fall under the People Services portfolio, our focus is specific to Occupational Health and Safety. We want our staff to know we are here to work with them - many people don’t know that Occupational Health and Safety is available 24/7.

What is the most rewarding part of working in this field for you?

SS: I have a fantastic team and love interacting with each and every one of them. Looking at the big picture, if we do our jobs right and everything goes well, we’re keeping hundreds of people safe and avoiding potential harm. That’s the most rewarding for me, as well as having the pleasure to work for an organization that prioritizes safety.

RP: The biggest reward for me is seeing the education, knowledge and training that both Steven and I do with our teams, being put into practice. It’s so great seeing our teams evolve and grow to become confident in their skills and knowledge - that’s a big win for me as a manager.