Introducing Professor Peter Sturm
Professor Peter Sturm is a faculty member with the School of Occupational Health and Safety at the University of Fredericton (UFred). Peter’s academic background includes a Bachelor of Arts from York University, an OHS Certificate from Ryerson University, a Post Baccalaureate Diploma in OHS from McMaster University, and an Executive Master of Business Administration from UFred. In addition to his education, he has had a vast career as an OHS practitioner which has expanded the knowledge he has to share with his students.
Peter’s career began in insurance, with a Bay Street law firm, and subsequently with the Workers Compensation Board of Ontario (WSIB), where he worked in the prevention division. His division’s goal was to create health and safety management systems to reduce both costs and injuries within the workplace. He credits this role for setting the foundation he needed to move forward with his health and safety consulting business, Sturm Consulting.
Beyond his work in consulting, Peter has worked with various organizations that have significant impacts in the world of OHS. He has held the role of President of the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering, Governor with the Board of Canadian Registered Safety Professionals, and he is currently chairing the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Z1005 Incident Investigation committee, a topic of which he is passionately involved in, including in his teaching capacity at UFred.
In June 2020, Peter was asked to help UFred revamp the Incident Investigation & Response course and ensure it aligned with the CSA standard. His involvement as chair with the CSA in this area and their recent review of their standards allowed Peter to provide exceptionally relevant insight as a subject-matter expert and served as a springboard for teaching and other work with UFred.
The UFred Experience: Accessibility, Applicability, and Impacting Student
UFred’s School of Occupational Health and Safety provides students with the ability to take relevant OHS courses from anywhere in the world. For Peter, the ease of access and reach of the programs have helped to make his experience at UFred unique and valuable. While teaching in both the Certificate in Occupational Health, Safety, and Environmental Systems (COHSES) and the Associate Degree in Occupational Health and Safety (AOHS) programs, he has found that collaboration amongst students from different backgrounds and geographical locations is significant for learners who are both existing and aspiring OHS practitioners.
“Accessibility is a key benefit in my eyes. With these courses, you have people across the country who can take the same courses. You could be working at a remote mine in Northern Ontario or a mine in Nova Scotia and still take a course with respect to health and safety because it’s accessible.”
By bringing together both the diverse locations of students and the process-based approach, Peter believes students are receiving the best opportunities to succeed in their professional careers. Removing provincial limitations allows students to apply concepts rather than regulations.
“If Manitoba has a better standard for confined space, we should learn that, not the one from the province we are from. A confined space in every workplace has hazards and risks that are very similar, how we deal with it is the key to success. That’s an interesting element with respect to our courses since we don’t get into legislation, however, we are aligned to standards and industry best practices.”
As is the case for many professors, one of Peter’s greatest highlights at UFred has been the impact he has had on students. In the two years since he began teaching in the COHSES program, he has had the opportunity to share his knowledge with approximately 500 students.
“You learn so much over the years, and I’ve always believed that every day is a learning experience – so having the opportunity to share my experience has been a highlight. Especially since the “best-kept secret” and strength of the safety profession is largely about sharing what you know with others.”
Whether it be connecting students to new ideas or helping them to expand their way of thinking, forging connections among his students, both between their learning and with each other, is one of Peter’s favourite aspects of his role.
Looking Forward: The Future of Online Learning
With the freedom online education creates, Peter has seen an increase in the diverse makeup of his students, namely in both younger students, women, and varied backgrounds. In a program that thrives when diverse perspectives are present, being able to learn from groups that have not traditionally been as present in OHS “has brought a whole different perspective.”
Peter believes that the accessibility that comes from online education has been a driving factor for younger and more diverse students and will continue to create more opportunities for new and emerging OHS practitioners. Students do not have to wait until their employer has approved support or funding to take OHS courses with online education, which has often been a challenge for practitioners who have entered the OHS field in the past. Thanks to the remote approach and ease of access from home, they can now take courses on their own time.
“UFred offers an opportunity where I can be 23 years old and start to look at health and safety as a career, and I don’t have to be bound by either previously working in the job or be bound by an employer that says, ‘yes you can or no you can’t do it.’ It creates more freedom because you can decide that OHS is a career for you.”
Peter also believes that the future of OHS should be more global in nature, which online education is well poised to address. Even though UFred teaches OHS programs with a process and safety management-based approach, many educational institutes continue to rely on the minimum local compliance regulations in their programs. Peter believes that OHS is a global issue that deserves a global solution.
“When it comes to the future of online learning, at times we have confined health and safety learning exclusively at a local regulatory level, and I think we need to start to look at it from a global perspective.”
As the world of OHS practices and standards evolve, Peter believes that OHS education must follow suit.
Academia and beyond: Book Releases and the Evolution of Professional Curriculums
In addition to Peter’s role as a professor at both UFred and the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies, he currently has several projects on the go. He recently finished editing a book, Accident Investigation Techniques – Best Practices for Examining Workplace Incidents, Third Edition. In the book, he ensured that the CSA standard was included through this editing, which was significant as it’s an American-published text.
“I like that as Canadians we are willing to share Canadian solutions globally. Canada has some of the best leading practices which are available to others who don’t have investigation standards and it is nice when we can highlight the practice of sharing information.”
Another unique project is his work with the education-focused organization Minerva. This non-profit, volunteer-run group works to incorporate health and safety into the curriculum of business and engineering faculties across Canada. They are currently working on expanding into faculties beyond business and engineering to ensure that even more students as future business leaders have a foundational knowledge of health and safety when they enter the workforce.
Peter has also returned to work with the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada, specifically looking at workplace safety, process safety and sustainability through the successful Responsible Care initiative. This work will involve a planned book that focuses on how health and safety come together with sustainability and human capital. As this is a relatively new topic of conversation among OHS professionals, he is excited to broaden their knowledge on its importance.
To listen and view Professor Peter Sturm’s full interview, click here.