Speaker biographies
As training coordinator and lead instructor for Hazmasters Environmental, Cal Beale has been involved in training and consulting for over twenty years. He has held positions, both in the field and in management, chiefly in the industries of oil and gas and construction. Mr. Beale graduated from Moorhead State College, Minnesota, USA (1973) with a Bachelor of Science Degree. He has also had formal training in the area of adult education and has conducted seminars on that subject. Cal has been a long time instructor of core safety programs such as fall protection, confined space, H2S Alive, and has been director of safety and rescue for various projects in western Canada. Amongst other accomplishments, Cal co-created the curriculum for the P.I.T.S (Petroleum Industry Training Service, now ENFORM) backed courses Rig Work Fall Protection and Rig Work Rescue including manual and examinations, instructor qualification examination protocol, and instructor guide.
Cal’s enthusiastic instructing style, infectious energy, and passion for the subject at hand results in students leaving the classroom with a full cup of knowledge and a hunger to learn even more than was received during the course.
Nicole is a program developer (including instructor development), a provincial instructor, one of the original master trainers of the Traffic Control Person program (from 2003 to 2006), and health and safety coordinator, chief shop steward, and vice chair for Local 258 IBEW - Valley Traffic Systems for the past 12 years.
Rick Bobroske is a passionate supporter of the ladder industry’s need to communicate the effective, safe, use of climbing tools. Ladders are simple tools to use and too often their misuse results in serious injury or even death. Rick has utilized his 30 years of field consulting experience in the dealer and industrial channels to perform ladder safety sessions at the distributor and end-user level. Rick’s personal interests have included boating, skiing, and golf as well as a decade as a hot air balloon pilot.
Geoff Clark is the senior occupational hygienist at WorkSafeBC. He is a certified industrial hygienist (CIH), a registered occupational hygienist (ROH), and holds a master’s degree from the University of British Columbia. Geoff has conducted thousands of assessments in many areas of occupational hygiene, including asbestos and silica exposure, confined spaces, mould and bacteria contamination, and indoor air quality. He also spent six years acting as an expert witness in litigation cases in the U.S. One of his main areas of interest is reducing worker exposure to silica and asbestos dust.
Doug Clements has been in the safety business for 32 years. He has been specializing in respiratory equipment for 15 years as a manufacturer’s technical representative with 3M Canada. He provides onsite consultation, regulatory understanding, and training for both fit test and respiratory compliance, providing solutions for applications.
Jennifer Colman started her career in occupational health and safety in 1999 where she worked on the WorkSafeBC health and safety information line answering questions relating to safety, hygiene, the Workers Compensation Act and OHS Regulations. In 2000 she attended Loughborough University in the UK for a BSc in Ergonomics. In her final year she specialized in forensic and system ergonomics. Her dissertation was an evaluation of the Cognitive Reliability Error and Analysis Method (CREAM). This research was highly complementary to returning to WorkSafeBC and starting work as a member of the human factor specialist team in the investigation division.
Over the last five years Jennifer has attended a number of conferences and training sessions, including ‘Human Factors in Investigations’ and an abbreviated TSB training session for the investigation model that WorkSafeBC adopted: the ‘Integrated Safety Investigation’ methodology. In addition, she attended the human factor series at the NTSB for courses on fatigue and cognitive interviewing in 2007. Last year, Jenny achieved her Canadian Registered Safety Professional designation (CRSP) and is now enrolled, with her colleague Heather Kahle, in the MSc program for Human Factors and System Safety from Lund University, Sweden.
Clare works in the area of leadership development in Corporate Education Services at WorkSafeBC. She is a conflict resolution mediator, certified through the Justice Institute of B.C. in 2002. After receiving her certification, she spent five years successfully leading mediations, working with young offenders charged with a crime and the parties they had harmed, with the Fraser Burrard Community Justice Program (now called Communities Embracing Restorative Action).
In the last few years, Clare has also been working as a conflict resolution coach and trainer, working with municipalities and other organizations, and has joined the faculty at the Justice Institute of B.C. as a conflict resolution coach. More recently, Clare has been using her skills and experience as a conflict resolution coach, mediator, trainer, and team-builder at WorkSafeBC, and is developing a track record of success in helping individuals and teams work more effectively together.
Terry is an independent safety generalist with 36 years of experience in occupational safety. Over the years, Terry has worked as safety coordinator for Dominion Bridge Western Canada, safety coordinator/industrial engineer for Freightliner of Canada, and has worked for 24 years as an independent safety generalist.
Terry was directly involved in the original development of the TSC/CSO Program with the City of Vancouver and in the development of the TSC/CSO Training programs. He’s instructed the program since its inception in 1989.
Peter Goyert is a certified professional ergonomist (CCPE) with over 20 years of experience in musculoskeletal injury prevention and is the senior ergonomist with WorkSafeBC.
He works with employers, assisting them to address their ergonomic problems through a three pillared approach of consultation, education, and enforcement. He is active in the field of ergonomic risk evaluation, risk control, and training in a variety of industries including: healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, construction, schools, and municipalities.
Peter teaches ergonomics at both the local and university level and is a member of the Association of Canadian Ergonomists. He has published articles in scientific journals such as ‘Spine’ and ‘Physiotherapy Canada’ and is the author of the popular publication, Back Talk: An Owners Manual.
Bruce Jackson is the director of professional development for the Lower Mainland chapter of the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering, and has worked in the health and safety field for 17 years. He is a graduate of the B.C. Institute of Technology in both Occupational Health and Safety and Operations Management, and holds the Canadian Registered Safety Professional designation. Bruce is currently completing the provincial instructor diploma program, and is pursuing a graduate degree in occupational health and safety.
Derek has a diploma in adult education and over 15 years of experience in safety distribution, with a focus on rope rescue and working at heights solutions. He is a certified hi-angle rescue team leader in mountain rescue and a certified NFPA rope rescue technician. As a full-time employee of Hazmasters, Derek has taken hundreds of product information sessions on fall protection equipment, in addition to regular competent persons classes (OSHA). Derek has a passion for working at heights and finding solutions for this hazard. Derek has worked at heights with protection and without (20 years ago), jumped from heights (test), rescued workers (mock), been a part of accident investigations, and seen actual falls.
Derek has logged well over 1000 hours of instruction and has a 15 year history of being an advocate for safety and the right for the workers to know and understand the limitations of their personal protection equipment.
Derm McNulty has trained and coached conflict resolution, communication, supervisory, management, and safety skills for the past seven years. He has worked with diverse groups such as construction companies, First Nations, corporate boards, B.C. Ferries, WorkSafeBC, law firms, municipal councils, unions, educational boards, and private firms.
Currently Derm is a facilitator for the Justice Institute's Centre for Conflict Resolution and is president of the Canadian Construction Institute. He works with groups and organizations in the principles of conflict resolution and interest based negotiations. A current focus of his work is establishing and monitoring safety management systems within the construction industry. He is an instructor with the Canadian Construction Association’s Gold Seal Program. In his private consulting practice, Derm has worked on assisting in the implementation of alternative dispute resolution strategies in the construction industry in B.C., Alberta, and Washington State.
He is a COR certified instructor with the Construction Safety Network.
Rob has been an instructor in occupational health and safety programs for approximately 10 years and diploma program head for six years. He teaches safety courses in the diploma program, administers the diploma program, and tutors students in the distance education certificate program. He is an active participant in the BCIT main joint health and safety committee, co-chairs the School of Health Science joint health and safety committee, past executive member of the CSSE, and current executive member of ASTTBC. He holds his safety professional designation (CRSP), a Diploma of Technology from BCIT, a Bachelor of Arts degree from UFV and Master of Education degree from SFU.
Previous to BCIT, Rob worked for Paint and Product Care as their regulatory affairs/safety/environmental coordinator. This provincial organization collects, processes, and prepares for disposal household used paints, spent solvents, and used pesticides. Rob coordinated the safety/environmental programs for Paint and Product Care’s central processing plant and over 100 depots around the province.
Janet Tomayer is the executive director of the BC Council on Substance Abuse, an organization dedicated to “Building Better Workplaces” that are safe, productive, and free from impairment by alcohol and substance use. An independent consultant with twenty years experience working with the real estate and property development industry, Janet incorporates community development elements into her projects. Janet has volunteered as the secretary for both the Abbotsford Coalition for Social Development and the Abbotsford Coalition for Drug and Crime Prevention, and has co-facilitated AIDS/HIV support groups.
Many years ago, a long-time partner of Janet’s brought home the complicated dynamics involved in substance impairment and workplace accidents. This individual had two serious workplace accidents in the early 1980s; the second a result of his being impaired by alcohol at work. He tipped a forklift and his leg was amputated above the knee. Regrettably, he never rehabilitated back into the workforce. Chronic binge drinking developed into crack cocaine addiction, psychosis, and living on the streets. He died at the age of 53 due to complications from AIDS and drug addiction.
Keenly aware of the high cost of addiction to society and the necessity for early intervention, Janet’s personal experiences add depth to her professional work and passion to “Building Better Workplaces.”
Curtis Zanussi was on his way to a career in golf when his life collapsed — literally. While working at a construction site in 2007, a seven-foot trench caved in on the young worker, burying him up to his shoulders in two tons of sand. The accident crushed his pelvis and caused severe internal injuries requiring multiple surgeries and countless hours of rehabilitation. Recovery has been a full-time job. Today, Curtis feels lucky to be alive and is keen to share his story, urging other young workers to understand the potential risks on the job and to get the training needed to do the job safely. Curtis lives in White Rock with his wife, Kerri, and his dog.
