Alum Cindy Lindberg’s passion for road safety leads her to pursue OHS education
Students entering an occupational health and safety (OHS) program are often either new to the industry or looking to continue progressing in their careers. In Cindy Lindberg’s case, her pursuit of further education was driven by her passion for making a difference in road safety.
In her search for OHS education, a key requirement was that the program had to fit her fluctuating work schedule. Cindy was pleasantly surprised once she started her program and found that not only could UFred’s programs accommodate her schedule, but also that everyone was easy to get in contact with when she needed assistance. This consistent support would prove to be important to her throughout her educational journey.
Working toward improved road safety
As the owner of Proactive Road Safety Inc., Cindy provides services in driver training, driver assessments, training program creation for road safety, and she assists with reviewing existing road safety programs within British Columbia and Alberta. Given that she provides numerous safety services as a part of her business, she wanted to expand her health and safety education as a means of helping her to continue to provide impactful services.
“I chose an OHS program because I wanted to make a difference in road safety. I had to tell my daughter her dad wasn’t coming home because of a trucking accident, and I’ve lost friends in road accidents. No child should have to be told a parent isn’t coming home because of a work accident on the road.”
The education Cindy received has given her the opportunity to create and share safety programs on topics uncommonly discussed in North America, namely related to bulk fluid and live load, using her personal experience and global research. These types of programs will help Cindy to further her mission of creating safer roads across British Columbia and Alberta.
Highlights of the UFred experience
Ensuring you can clearly communicate your ideas and plans with individuals at each level of a business, from the board room to your front-line workers, is an invaluable skill for those in the field of health and safety. Cindy noted how useful this skill has been and how the UFred experience helped to enhance her abilities.
“I’ve learned how to create programs that have been widely accepted by corporate individuals as well as those that directly benefit from the programs. It has also given me the ability to look at my work from the standpoint of safety, and I now have the ability to better recognize what is a hazard, and what is not just ‘part of the job’.”
One of the highlights of the program for Cindy was the practicum course. This course allowed her to apply what she learned in real time by creating a program for a large road construction company based in British Columbia and Alberta.
“The company recently advised me that they shared my program with SafetyDriven – Trucking Safety Council of BC and the BC Trucking Association so that they can create a program to reach more companies.”
Future goals
Moving forward, Cindy plans to continue expanding her knowledge of driver safety, specifically looking at the National Safety Councils Defensive Driving Safety Training and Driver Fitness. In increasing her knowledge, Cindy looks forward to in turn making this information “easily available and understandable to those considering entering the transportation industry.”