An employee's well-being inevitably comes down to their health and safety at work. That's the core reason why Roy. invested, 2 years ago, in its health and safety department.
Join us as we dive into the world of Marilie Labelle, who has contributed to this project from the very beginning as a health and safety prevention advisor. She shares her experience at Roy., her mission, and her big ambitions for the department.
What Marilie shares with us:
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Her career path at Roy.
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Health and safety prevention at the heart of Roy.
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Staying connected with our people : the key to building a safe work environment
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Making information accessible to every employee
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Roy. through Marilie's eyes
A new professional challenge, taken on with flying colours
Marilie has been part of the big Roy. family for 4 years now. 2 years ago, when she was offered a position in field health and safety prevention, she didn't hesitate for a second and took on this new challenge, which was a perfect match for her career ambitions.
"Ever since I started working in health and safety, I've felt truly fulfilled. I love the human side of it, connecting with people, making sure they're doing well and that they have every tool they need to do their job. It really speaks to me 100%."
In fact, this new role reminds Marilie of her years of experience as a manager, where she looked after a team of employees: "I've always stayed close to my team. My goal has always been to create work environments where people feel good and accepted."
Health and safety prevention at the heart of Roy.
By developing health and safety at work, we improve the whole company. Roy has understood this well, to the delight of Marilie and her colleagues.
"Health and safety is an essential part of making the company run well. A healthy employee is a happy, productive employee. What brings people to work with us are the working conditions we offer."
According to Marilie, having healthy employees lowers absenteeism and turnover rates, and boosts staff engagement. This is what allows Roy. to stand out, once again, in the industry.
Staying connected with our people, the key to building a safe environment
The success of the health and safety department relies first and foremost on staying connected with employees in the field. That's why Marilie and her team get as involved as possible in starting conversations and taking the pulse of the various needs of Roy. employees on the ground.
Through these ongoing conversations, it's easier to understand employees' reality and get a clear picture of the equipment needed to improve (and make easier!) their work experience.
Initiatives to encourage dialogue with employees
Over the past few years, several initiatives have been introduced to increase touchpoints with cleaners.
The first initiative involves visiting employees directly at their worksites to audit their ways of working. In fact, Marilie has set herself the ultimate goal of visiting all 420 contracts to assess whether employees have everything they need to do their job safely.
"We check in directly with employees to see how things are going in the field. We're very open to employees' ideas, because they're the ones doing the work and they know what would actually help them. We try to put everything in place to support them as best we can and give them the right tools."
For anything that might not necessarily be visible during visits, an anonymous email address was created to encourage workers to report unsafe behaviour in the workplace. 🤫
"We hope this will make it easier for employees to open up to us. The path to reaching us at head office can sometimes seem complicated. Thanks to this email address, we hope to remove any barriers that might stand between the safety department and employees in the field. We really want to be there for them.
Making training accessible to every employee
Marilie and her team are currently developing an online training system to make information easily accessible to every employee.
This training path will cover all the essential elements of health and safety at work: workplace ergonomics, awareness of certain risks, the safe use of tools and machinery, and much more.
"The idea is to give employees as much information as possible on best practices to improve their comfort and well-being at work."
Roy. through Marilie's eyes
"Roy. is a big company, but with a family spirit, which makes you feel good when you walk into the office. Julie Roy, our president, is very present in the field and for the team. I think seeing her out in the field, present for the employees, makes all the difference. She always asks us how we're doing, checks in on our families, and even when she visits contracts, she remembers employees' names. That's what I love about Roy., it's the human, caring side. It starts from the top."
Ready to live the Roy. experience?
Health and safety processes are part of Roy.'s best-employer culture.
And there's more : Roy. has been Great Place to Work-Canada certified since 2021. Roy. is also the recipient of the Mercure Award for Workforce Training and Development at the most recent Gala Les Mercuriades 2022. The family-owned, Québec-based company, founded in 1954, ranks 48th out of 300 of Québec's largest companies.
