UFred alumnus presents at XXII World Congress on Safety and Health at Work
Jason Weibel has been a safety professional for 20 years and is accustomed to the ever-changing workplace. He has an educational background in Occupational Health and Safety and Risk Management, and his work experience is primarily in the mining industry, where he has led and developed functional safety teams. He earned his Executive MBA with a specialty stream in Health and Safety Leadership from the University of Fredericton (UFred) and spent the past several years leading change, especially technological changes, that impact people and existing processes in his workplaces.
Now, in addition to his professional and academic experience, Jason can add “international speaker” to his resume, having just presented at the XXII World Congress on Safety & Health at Work in September.
Presenting on the World Stage: Providing Informed Perspective on Worker Safety
When the opportunity to present at the XXII World Congress on Safety & Health at Work was initially shared by an industry peer, Jason says he had immediate support from his supervisor. It was a unique experience for Jason because of the scope and audience of the event.
“I’ve presented in the past at conventions on a national stage, but the international experience was truly amazing. The perspectives and diversity of experience was something I wasn’t really prepared for but absolutely enjoyed.”
Jason’s presentation was part of Symposium 19: Worker Safety on Roadways in the Age of Automated Vehicles, and included speakers from Germany, the U.K., Canada and Guatemala. He says technological changes like autonomy represent huge opportunities to improve safety, but there needs to be a risk-based approach to successfully integrate them into existing systems.
“The impact to people represents the biggest challenge of a change like autonomy and the global perspective was very consistent in this message. As safety professional this is our challenge in a world where technology is only speeding up changes to our businesses.”
Education as the catalyst for professional growth: how Jason’s UFred experience helped his career
Jason says he earned his EMBA as he believed it was the next step in his professional growth.
“The program provided the perspective and skills to work at a strategic level, especially in collaboration and problem solving. The Health and Safety Leadership specialty stream offered some programming specifics that really helped to refine my approach around change management.”
Throughout the EMBA process, Jason says the most important thing he learned is to continuously work on expanding his network.
“I’ve certainly applied networking throughout my career but in the autonomy space, it’s been critical. With new technology and changing workplaces, it takes a network of peers, industry experts, regulators and even competitors to navigate successfully and safely. As an industry, the network approach has served the mining community to everyone’s benefit as autonomy continues to grow and flourish.”
UFred extends a heartfelt congratulations to Jason on the success of his session at the World Congress, on Safety & Health at Work.