CEO Health & Safety Leadership Charter

About Us

Our History

In January 2005, Duncan Hawthorne, President and CEO of Bruce Power met with the Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers of Labour to pitch the concept of a Canada-wide Health and Safety Charter.

The action-oriented Charter would encourage strong performers to help those with challenges, and larger corporations would provide the infrastructure support for smaller organizations. The opportunity to link the workplace safety priorities of the Labor ministers and the actions of influential business leaders was discussed, and there was support from the ministers for the Charter.

The Charter was officially launched on April 4 at the Industrial Accident Prevention Association (IAPA) Health and Safety Canada 2005 Conference. Duncan Hawthorne was the Honorary Chair at this conference, and used this opportunity to bring 54 business leaders together for a workshop culminating in these ‘founding members’ signing the Charter. The Honourable Chris Bentley, Ontario Minister of Labour, hosted a CEO dinner and articulated his strong support for the Charter during the dinner, and also the next morning when the CEOs were recognized by over 1500 conference attendees at the opening ceremony for the day.

The Conference Board of Canada

In January 2007 The Conference Board of Canada was approached to work with Bruce Power and the Steering/Working Committee to take over the CEO Leadership Charter initiative with the goal to further expand Duncan’s work. To that end The Conference Board is working with CEOs who have committed to improving Health and Safety in their organizations. Workshops and other support activities, some of which are noted on this site, are key to providing CEOs with the tangible, practical, strategic tools that enable them to make the lasting changes in their organizations.

To learn more about the Conference Board of Canada please visit: www.conferenceboard.ca.