Spotlight on CSSE Members
Sue McLaren
Registered nurse and occupational health and safety (OHS) specialist Sue McLaren can’t stop talking about how stumbling across the CSSE changed the course of her OHS journey.
“I’ve been a registered nurse for over 40 years. And quite early in my career I decided that I wanted to go into occupational health, which is a specialty within nursing. And so I did that 30-plus years ago.”
Sue’s first OHS occupational health nursing job was in open-pit mining. From there, she moved on to working with the Ottawa Police Service as their Manager in Health/Safety & Lifestyles. But after 12 years with the Service, which included long commutes and less time with her family, she’d had enough. “I wanted to hang out a shingle and see how that worked for me. At the time, this type of business did not exist in my rural community. And this is kind of where the CSSE comes into the mix, because I thought, if I really am going to hang a shingle, I’d better have an additional certification. And that’s when I stumbled upon the CSSE—I didn't even know they existed.”
Although she was already a Canadian Certified Occupational Health Nurse, Sue decided to earn her designation as a Certified Health and Safety Consultant (CHSC) with the CSSE, which she completed in 2010.
Sue runs a health and safety consultancy. Her clients have included many local organizations in the Country of Renfrew, where she lives. and she continues to support organizations across Canada as part of a team, auditing health and safety management systems. “The rural community has treated me well; local organizations have supported my business from the get-go, and I am so grateful to them.”
Sue also works as a course instructor with the University of New Brunswick, where she teaches online courses in occupational health and safety and occupational health nursing. “I have been so fortunate to have a long career in nursing and a successful health and safety business.”
Since discovering the CSSE, Sue has been an enthusiastic volunteer, supporter, and booster. “It was so important, when I was doing my CHSC, to be in a room with like-minded people, those with the same issues or even expert knowledge in different areas. I think that's what I got most out of it in the beginning.” She then went on to sit on the local executive board, eventually becoming Vice Chair and then Chair. At the national level, Sue also sat on the Awards Committee and the Conference Committee before becoming a Board member.
Sue is enthusiastic about the changes underway at the CSSE. “There's new stuff happening, and I'm so happy about it. I don’t think the status quo was viable anymore, because you can't say you're the voice of the profession and not change to keep up with change. The CSSE’s biggest benefit, to me, is the opportunity for networking. I mean, I have met some fantastic people across Canada and beyond, many of whom I call friends, and some have become partners in work opportunities. And that’s one of the CSSE’s strong points, so they need to continue to build on that. I’m really excited to see what the future holds.”