Register for the SCSA Conference, online April 22-23
Register for the SCSA Conference, online April 22-23
Each year, the Saskatchewan Construction Safety Association (SCSA) recognizes member companies and individuals throughout Saskatchewan for their efforts to promote safety in construction environments and lead the development of a positive safety culture.
Awards are given to one company and two individuals. We sat down with the 2025 award winners to learn more about what makes their work effective and how they influence others in building a safer industry.
Sean Lyons is the corporate HSE lead for Tron Construction and Mining, owned by English River First Nations. He oversees safety for all of Tron’s projects, including multiple mine sites in northern Saskatchewan.
With 20 years of experience, Lyons has held numerous roles that required safety leadership. His background includes working in oil and gas, running his own residential construction business and supervising safety at some of the province’s largest mining operations. You name the trade, he says he’s worked with them. He also has experience in the military and delivering training at a regional college.
To build a positive safety culture and get buy-in from his team, Lyons says that setting a good example goes a long way. Whether that’s wearing all the proper PPE or following protocols, he’s always aware that others are watching “the safety guy.”
“I don’t just tell people what needs to be done. I’m the guy out in the field, that I know in my position that all eyes are on me. So, I’m a little bit of a perfectionist. I have high standards for myself,” Lyons shares.
He views his role as supportive, with relationships built on respect and fairness. “My big thing is when I talk to personnel in the field – whether it’s supervision, the project manager, the labour – I’m here to work with you, not against you.”
He adds, “We’re all people, we all have families to go home to. And when your five-year-old kid looks at you, they don’t know if you’re the CEO of the company or the labourer. To them you’re the top dog, right? So, whether they’re a mom, a dad or sister, brother … that’s how I see them too.”
At one point in his career, Lyons decided to step away from work as a safety professional. After a break, he ultimately returned to it with the motivation to not feel powerless in seeing things happen that were preventable.
Two experiences left an impact on Lyons that he carries to this day. The first was a workplace fatality where a young man suffered a fall from heights. “Age-wise, that could be my son. And it kind of hit home,” he says. The second experience occurred when his 11-year-old daughter got into a dirt bike accident.
His empathy and perspective as a parent underpin his steadfast commitment to safety. He’s glad to be in a position where he has the power to ensure the safety of others. “When I’m out at the site, I’m treating everybody like you’re going home.”
Lyons proactively looks to influence safety from the project planning stages right through to execution. He makes sure safety systems are easy to follow and tries to implement controls before work begins, rather than relying on reactive site-level assessments.
Lyons compares safety to a team sport like soccer, which he played growing up. One person can’t play the game alone; it takes everyone’s contributions. “We work as a team and we have a good frontline,” he says.
He emphasizes that everyone, no matter their position, can show accountability and contribute to a safer work environment. Leadership comes from all levels. New hires bring in questions that might seem naive at first but serve as good reminders for those with years of experience. This helps bring to light complacency or taking things for granted over time.
Lyons has guided and trained other safety professionals at all levels, from the new safety administrator to those with 20 years or more of experience on site. He maintains a willingness to learn, getting support from the SCSA and other industry associations.
Though his company works across sites in northern Saskatchewan, Lyons says it’s important that the safety culture remains the same. Consistent expectations and processes ensure they maintain a healthy workforce, with many of their workers living in those northern communities. For youth recruitment to the industry, Lyons always keeps in mind the perspective of parents – everyone wants their child to work for a safe company.
Safety is a shared mission, not a sole responsibility. The award recognition affirms for Lyons that their team is dedicated to high safety standards. He says it helps validate the company’s efforts, but he sees it as a motivator to continue improvement.
Ray Decena moved to Saskatoon in 2023 from the Philippines. He is the health and safety coordinator for Zak’s Building Group in Hague, Saskatchewan. They build ready-to-move (RTM) homes on site.
When Decena started in the RTM yard, he had to learn a new industry in a vastly different climate than he had ever experienced before. He soon discovered that Saskatchewan winters are no joke. Building RTM homes outside year-round poses a whole series of challenges and risks.
With 25 years of experience in manufacturing, Decena worked as a safety officer in the Philippines. Because of his safety background, he was asked to join the Occupational Health Committee (OHC) at Zak’s, which led to his current position. In one short year, he has made incredible strides – both in personal achievement and in helping improve their company’s health and safety program.
To learn a new industry in a new country, his boss directed Decena to the SCSA to learn the specifics of construction safety. He quickly connected with an advisor and was guided through the process of obtaining all the necessary training to become a National Health and Safety Administrator (NHSA™).
Decena completed the required training and achieved his NHSA™ designation. He relied on his advisor, Sue Babcock, as a mentor along the way. “When you have someone who mentored you in health and safety, it’s way easier than doing it by yourself … I want to thank Sue and the SCSA for being there for me and for guiding me throughout this health and safety journey.”
Starting in the RTM yard, Decena built relationships with coworkers he could use as a foundation when he became safety coordinator. He relates the importance of safety in their jobs to the ultimate goal of going home safely every day to their families.
The connection to family runs deep for Decena and he uses it as a reminder for his teammates. “I think that all the safety practitioners here in Canada, and not just in Canada, but everywhere in the world, every safety practitioner wants all employees to come home safely to their family,” Decena shares.
Whether it’s out in the yard every morning or sending group text reminders to different teams, Decena is diligent in his approach to open communication. He makes sure everyone has safe work reminders about weather conditions and the type of work being done that day.
One of Decena’s key initiatives is a health and safety website that he built and updates for the entire company. The site includes policies, safe job procedures, safe work practices, documents, links to health and safety forms, hazard assessments, toolbox meetings and monthly updates.
His team appreciates how easy it is to use from anywhere, eliminating the need for paper that gets destroyed when working outside in winter. Employees can access everything on their phones, including numerous training videos. Decena tracks completion with quizzes and has the results sent to his laptop.
The expense to set up the website was less than one percent of what a custom app would cost. Decena shares that “Safety doesn’t have to be expensive. You just have to be creative.”
Going forward, Decena’s goal is to foster a safety culture that is rooted in behaviour-based safety. He wants everyone always thinking about the safety of themselves, of others and everyone in the company. He adds, “The goal is always zero accidents. That’s the ultimate goal.”
Winning the award means a lot to Decena as a newcomer to Canada. He says it is one of his biggest accomplishments in life. In receiving recognition, he is grateful to his employer for giving him the opportunity to work in health and safety.
With all his training and experience, he still believes it’s never enough. He wants to continue learning. He acknowledges that it can be hard to be the safety guy, but he always remembers that he is helping another employee go home safely to their family. And that’s the most important thing.
Ram Steel Ltd is a repeat winner of the Corporate Leadership in Safety Award. Their previous win was in 2023. Chris Paposi, Ram’s HSE superintendent, won an SCSA Award for Safety Practitioner in 2024 and was also a finalist for the Safety Leader award in 2025.
Garrett Prosofsky, a partner with Ram Steel, joined Paposi to discuss their accomplishments and the recent initiatives that contribute to their success.
With safety as one of their company pillars outlined in strategic planning, they say it ties into all other aspects of their values. It affects teamwork, accountability and quality.
Paposi believes safety is directly connected to operational excellence. “Safety and quality go hand in hand,” he says. “If a worker feels safe, a worker is able to manage the risks that are around them, then they’re able to produce quality-driven products and deliverables.”
They say a proactive risk management model, rather than just focusing on compliance, helps set them apart. They focus on growing their leadership to empower supervisors and further empower employees in the field. This fosters a collaborative environment where everyone has a voice and is encouraged to work together to find solutions.
Teamwork is one of the biggest things they credit for their continuous improvement in safety. Prosofsky shares, “I think teamwork is the only way that people are going to get better as individuals, if they work as a team.”
Prosofsky coaches his son’s hockey team and sees similarities in their company culture. As a coach, he tries to build a culture where everyone is important, and everybody’s contributions are needed to be successful.
They look to bring good teammates on who can help them further develop and grow in the same direction. They rely on their teams to speak up and identify risks. “The culture, I think, is our biggest asset,” Paposi adds.
In the past year, they undertook a major initiative to increase hazard recognition and control. Paposi looked for a practical yet simple method that could help identify the risks involved in high-consequence incidents. They chose the hazardous energy wheel, which looks at ten forms of energy that present a risk of injuries on site.
With the ultimate goal to stop injuries and prevent incidents, Paposi says, “The energy wheel really stuck out because statistically speaking, we can miss about 45 per cent of all the hazards that could affect us when we do our initial hazard assessments in our areas.”
By adding the energy wheelinto their daily work routines, he saw that they could increase their hazard recognition by over 30 per cent. He says it made sense because it was easy to incorporate. Over the summer, he implemented a 10-week program that included training, visuals, exercises and follow-up with about 80 employees.
Paposi says that their supervisors found a lot of value in the initiative. He noticed positive engagement across sites and had numerous conversations with people during field audits and hazard assessments. These conversations revealed things that wouldn’t have popped up before.
Prosofsky says that Paposi’s work on the initiative went above and beyond what he expected, and what most others are currently doing in the industry.
Their work is not done. Paposi shares that they have further developments underway to enhance their safety efforts. This includes a systematic overhaul of their health and safety manual, reviewing all policies and procedures to incorporate energy-based recognition into critical task analysis.
They have frequent safety meetings to review things and are noticing an improvement with reduced incidents. They offer positive recognition to bring awareness to hazards and reward their team for catching things before an incident happens.
They also prioritize training to develop supervisors who can motivate employees to take accountability for safety. It all starts with solid training and understanding their legislated responsibilities. They use the SCSA’s Leadership for Safety Excellence and Occupational Health Committee training, as well as WorkSafe programs. They also have several supervisors who are Gold Seal Certified.
Though they are always looking to improve, Paposi acknowledges that it’s a great feeling to receive positive recognition. He’s encouraged to think about the “hundreds, if not thousands, of good decisions that happen out on our sites every day in the field.”
He adds, “It’s important to acknowledge that the systems behind those decisions are working the way they’re supposed to work, just to bring a positive light.” It not only ensures that people go home safely every day. It helps build a positive safety culture, enhances their teams and supports further leaders.
Paposi encourages others to invest in their leaders and ensure they are trained, competent and know their legislative responsibilities. He finishes by saying, “Safety is foundational. It’s a core value. It’s not a department.”
The SCSA sends sincere thanks to all the winners, finalists and nominees for their great work in 2025. Together, we will continue to advance safety in construction and build a positive safety culture in Saskatchewan. Nominations for the SCSA Awards open each summer.
Reach out for support to meet your safety goals in 2026. scsaonline.ca