Atlantic Canada's Top Employers (2025) - Flipbook - Page 38
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ATLANTIC CANADA’S TOP EMPLOYERS (2025)
For WorkSafeNB, compassion begins at home
M
ichel Cyr spends
a lot of time
talking to people
on the worst days
of their lives. As
the manager of investigations for
WorkSafeNB, he leads a team that
conducts critical investigations of
workplace accidents in New
Brunswick: fatalities, life-altering
injuries and catastrophic events
such as bridge and building
collapses.
“There isn’t a playbook
telling you how to deal with these
events,” says Cyr. “Sometimes
the accident witness was a family
member — a brother, a parent,
a son or daughter who worked
alongside the victim. It can be
really hard.”
A long background in law
enforcement — as a police officer,
a border services officer and an
instructor in techniques including
firearms and use of force — had
prepared Cyr when he joined
WorkSafeNB in 2015. But when
these troubling events happen, it’s
what his colleagues do next that
really makes a difference.
“When there’s a fatality or
a traumatic case, it seems like
everybody hits pause,” he says.
“Everybody steps up and is willing
to help in any capacity that’s needed. We’re surrounded by good
people with good intentions.”
Laragh Dooley is WorkSafeNB’s
vice president of people and culture. She says providing support
to workers comes naturally for an
organization where compassion
is a core competency. “We have
an advantage because we have
that innate purpose,” she says.
“Because meaningful work exists
within the core services that we
provide, our entire organization
can rally around that purpose —
supporting New Brunswickers
during very challenging times.”
WorkSafeNB provides programs
for all employees, including peer
support groups, mental health
benefits and psychological health
and safety benefits, along with
Employees at WorkSafeNB greet each other during the organization’s annual Connect event.
training in subjects such as crucial
conversations, psychological safety
and resiliency. But it’s a culture
of trust built with intention and
a people-first perspective that
Dooley says is WorkSafeNB’s most
powerful asset.
You feel that everyone
is important in this
organization, and that sets
the standard for us when
we go out and deal with the
public.
— Michel Cyr
Manager of Investigations
“We provide a ton of autonomy
for our employees,” she says. “We
encourage them to come up with
solutions for the challenges that
we’re facing, which has led to a lot
of innovative ideas.”
That autonomy extends to policies like flexible work options and
benefits, allowing employees to
make choices that best serve their
families. The organization has also
invested in a five-pillar leadership
development program to prepare
employees for leadership roles.
“We believe leaders have an important part to play in the culture
of their team and how people feel
about coming to work every day,”
says Dooley.
For Cyr and his team, finding
out what happened at an accident
site is vital, to ensure it never
happens on a work site again. But
that complex job is just part of the
process. The team also spends a
lot of time following up with the
