SUDBURY, ON—This year’s Mining Health and Safety Conference has moved online due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

CAPTION: Roy Slack, author and President of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum, and Director of Cementation Americas.

Originally planned for Sudbury April 21 to 23, Workplace Safety North (WSN) is instead offering a free “best of” compilation of keynote speakers from previous conferences. Each day, from 10 am to 12:00 pm ET, a keynote speaker video will be shown online, followed by a live discussion between the speaker and Roy Slack, author and President of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum, and Director of Cementation Americas.

“The annual event is seen as Canada’s premier mining health and safety conference and typically attracts about 300 attendees to Sudbury from across the country,” says Mike Parent, WSN Vice President, Prevention Services. “Like everyone else, once the outbreak started, the health and safety of staff and attendees was the top priority. We moved quickly to cancel in-person events and started working on an alternate plan to still be able to get the safety message out.

“The presentations focus on important themes in health and safety: mental health, intergenerational workplaces, and mining safety theory. The event will not be recorded, but Workplace Safety North will provide attendees with links to relevant resources following the conference,” notes Parent. “There are already more than 300 people registered to attend online, with a maximum capacity of 500, so if you’re interested, we suggest you sign up to reserve your place.”

The free webinar runs from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm Eastern Time, April 21 to 23, and includes recorded video of a past conference presentation, followed by a live after-show discussion with the speaker each day and Roy Slack. Participants are encouraged to ask questions in the webinar using the Q & A button and join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #SafetyStartsAtHome.

Keynote Speakers

April 21: Big Daddy Tazz, Comedian and Mental Health Advocate

April 22: Jim Lees, Intergenerational Wellness Specialist

April 23: Corrie Pitzer, Behavioural and Strategic Safety Specialist

The event is free to attend and those interested can register on the WSN website HERE