The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) and Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) have both named new personnel to their respective leadership groups.

On June 23, WSIB appointed Sean McFarling to the position of Chair of its Health and Safety Committee. McFarling, who serves as General Counsel to the Labourers’ International Union of North America Ontario Provincial District Council and the union’s Central and Eastern Canada Organizing Fund, joined the WSIB Board in February 2020. He most recently served as Vice Chair of WSIB’s Health and Safety Committee.

“I welcome the opportunity to lead the committee and help provide strategic direction on how we can continue to work toward the vision of making Ontario the safest place to work,” said McFarling. “Part of improving workplace health and safety is about listening to and understanding the experiences of our stakeholders, I am committed to help share and carefully consider the perspectives of hard-working Ontarians.”

Meanwhile, federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan Jr. announced four appointments – and a reappointment – to the CCOHS Council of Governors on July 4.

The new officials are:

• Brenda Baxter, who has been appointed as the chairperson of the CCOHS Council of Governors for a term of five years. She is currently the assistant deputy minister of compliance, operations and program development and is the former director general of the Workplace Directorate within the Labour Program at Employment and Social Development Canada.
• Jenna Brookfield, who has been appointed as a governor representing employees for a term of four years. She is the health and safety representative of the Atlantic Regional Office at the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), bringing sound knowledge and experience related to health and safety from the worker perspective.
• Debbie Molloy, who has been appointed as the governor representing the Northwest Territories for a term of four years. She is the president and CEO of the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
• Gail Boland, who has been appointed as the governor representing Newfoundland and Labrador for a term of four years. Boland is the assistant deputy minister of the Digital Government and Services Branch of Newfoundland and Labrador, which provides accessible, responsive services in various areas of public health and safety.

Meanwhile, James Hall has been reappointed as the governor representing Manitoba for a term of four years. He is the Vice-President of SAFE Work Manitoba of the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba.

“I congratulate the appointees and look forward to working with them. Their knowledge and expertise will be an asset to the CCOHS’s tripartite Council of Governors,” said O’Regan. “Together we can and will make our workplaces safer, more fair and inclusive.”

The CCOHS’ Council of Governors counts 22 seats. Thirteen are allocated to provinces and territories, four to employer groups, four to employee groups and one to the chairperson, who normally represents the federal jurisdiction.