Safety in numbers – Robert Lawrence retires after 36 years of safety service

Safety in numbers

Robert Lawrence retiring after 36 years of safety service

By Daniella Ponticelli

For more than 36 years, Robert Lawrence has worked for School District No. 60 in British Colombia, Canada; although, he wasn’t always the supervisor for safety he is today.

“I put out an ad in the paper in 1975, and they hired me,” says Lawrence, who was taken on as a custodian at the time.

From there he continued moving up, becoming a journeyman locksmith and obtaining a class-four power engineering certificate. When he became district supervisor, John Holland (then SPOA president) encouraged Lawrence to join the association.

“The wealth of information contained within the association members, and their willingness to share, has proved a real assistance over the years,” says Lawrence, who was a zone representative for a number of years and presented at annual conferences.

While Lawrence has enjoyed the various hats he’s worn, educating others about safety is his passion.

“I look after all the health and safety for the school district,” says Lawrence, who spends most of his days instructing others how to stay safe. “I just like to know people are leaving work without aches – that they can go home and live happy.”

Lawrence speaks from experience, having come back from a severe injury that happened more than a decade ago.

“I have been injured while on the job,” Lawrence explains. “I was driving back from a work site and hit a patch of black ice and I shattered three vertebrae in my back.”

The experience left him off work for more than six months, but more motivated than ever to make a difference for others.

“I live in constant pain and if we can prevent just one person from that, it’s worked,” he says. Lawrence visits high schools to speak with students about the importance of being safe at work.

Lawrence’s classes teach students about Canada’s Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS), a feature on many of their future job sites. He also outlines other potential hazards on the job. These classes are filmed and broadcast online, so students 60 miles away can also participate.

“I love the variety that comes from this job and being in the classroom with the students, preparing them for the future,” he says. Lawrence, who’s puts on workshops about the safe use of chemicals, safe ladder use and workplace ergonomics, has also had a hand in creating the B.C. school safety handbook, “A Clean Sweep,” in which an ergonomist was hired to help create an info booklet for custodial staff to perform their tasks in an ergonomically safe manner.

Lawrence pitched the idea of creating an online safety program, and now appears alongside his staff members in multiple online training courses. These vignettes are used as course material for an online safety program B.C. employers can mandate their staff to complete.

So far, Lawrence’s dedication to safety has paid off: for the past two years, School District No. 60 has maintained the lowest rate of workplace injuries in the province of British Colombia.

Lawrence announced he is retiring this spring, a bittersweet farewell to a lifelong career he’s had at the school district.

“Thirty-six years with one employer; it’s a long go,” laughs Lawrence, who couldn’t say enough about the support he’s had. “If you’ve got a good idea, they let you run with it – and they’ve always been supportive with promoting it.”

Bob Hardy has known Lawrence since he became involved with the Educational Facilities Management Association of British Colombia.

“His expertise in custodial health and safety, and mentoring of new members, will be missed by all members of the association,” said Hardy. “We wish Robert and his family well in his upcoming retirement.” b