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SafeTEA Podcast with Nicola and Deborah
Join hosts Nicola Knobel and Deborah Pitout on 'SafeTea,' a podcast where the conversation about safety gets personal, powerful, and a bit of 'tea' is always spilled! In each episode, Nicola and Deborah dive deep into the world of safety leadership, viewed through the lens of inspiring women in New Zealand and beyond.
At 'SafeTea,' it's not just about policies and procedures; it's about people. Our hosts bring their unique perspectives and experiences to the table, engaging in candid conversations with remarkable women who are reshaping the landscape of safety in their fields. From trailblazing leaders to unsung heroes, each guest brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and inspiring stories to share.
But 'SafeTea' is more than just interviews; it’s a movement. Nicola and Deborah are here to empower and uplift, turning the spotlight on the achievements, challenges, and insights of women in safety. They delve into topics ranging from overcoming workplace obstacles to the importance of mental health and wellbeing, all while fostering a sense of community and connection.
Whether you're a safety professional, aspiring leader, or simply someone who believes in the power of women's voices, 'SafeTea' is your go-to podcast. So grab a cup of tea and join us for empowering conversations that aim to make a difference, one story at a time.
SafeTEA Podcast with Nicola and Deborah
S1E6: Charting a Course Through the Seas of Safety Leadership
Eustacia Jennings's story unfolds on the sun-drenched shores of Bahama's, charting her path to the chilly landscapes of Canada—a journey fuelled by a deep-seated commitment to environmental and workplace safety. Our conversation highlights the stark differences between the tranquil life on a Bahamian island and the busy, colder world elsewhere, uncovering Eustacia's initial confrontations with environmental hazards and cultural adjustments. Her story is woven from threads of personal tragedy and resolve, born from her father's work-related illness, which motivated a career aimed at preventing similar grief for others.
Delving into Eustacia's 15-year experience in the environmental health and safety sector, her stories serve as a guiding light for those interested in careers that protect our future. She offers heartfelt advice, promoting a culture of safety that reaches beyond the workplace and into family lives. Eustacia's dedication to this cause is both inspiring and crucial, igniting a movement for change within the complex tapestry of Bahamian society and further afield, advocating for stricter safety measures and the well-being of safety professionals.
The climax of our dialogue is heightened by Eustacia's thoughts on emergency readiness, charged with an urgency made acute by Hurricane Dorian's destruction and the continued fight against COVID-19. Our concluding reflections, surprisingly whimsical, delve into the unusual items in Eustacia's bag, showcasing her readiness for travel and her profound national pride—a testament to the resilience and spirit of the Bahamas. Join us, as Eustacia Marie Jennings's remarkable journey shows that the quest for safety is truly a quest for a passion for humanity.
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I feel like this should actually be one of our questions Is what is it like to live on and grow up on an island? That is that beautiful.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's, you've taken it for granted. I think I didn't get culture shock until I moved to Canada and I was like, and it was cold, like super cold, and I was like, whoa, what is this? I'm like, please take me back home to my island, but that's all. That's all I knew. I went to the States a couple of times for shopping, but island life was all I knew you know, and just nature and the beach.
Speaker 2:That's kind of how I got into the environment and I really loved working in the environment and then I kind of segwayed into safety from there. But yeah, and even now it's like I'm like I wanna stay here and even Nassau like Nassau is the capital and it's crazy right now there's a lot of crime and it's congested. And I live on another island, which is Andros, which is the largest island on the map, if you pick up your map that's the largest island.
Speaker 2:I'm looking at my map, so Andros is the largest island on the side of the beach. Yeah, so just the biggest one. It looks like three islands together. It's right on the side of you probably live in the middle, like up to the top. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And it's kind of like a national park.
Speaker 2:Right, most of it is a national park because it's so huge, it has so many wetlands. That's why I say I live between the wetlands and the beach. So now that it's raining, like the water floods into my yard because they're cutting down the wetlands and it has no water, has nowhere to go that's what I've been posting about and so my yard gets flooded because of the destruction of the wetlands. But yeah, it's more peaceful here, it's quiet. It's not the gun violence and craziness. So, yeah, I'm supposed to go back to Nassau. I supposed to go back tomorrow and they're like, oh, the boat's not coming. I was like, yay, so I don't have to go back to home, for I'm gonna have to go back to the boat.
Speaker 1:Okay, I'm gonna have to edit some of that and just my own stupidity of not knowing where the Bahamas. I feel like I've learned more about Bahamas in like two minutes than I think I ever would have.
Speaker 2:Oh, yes, yes, it's a beautiful kind we celebrated our 50th year independence last year from Nice and so that was a whole big jubilee, a whole year of celebrations, and it was quite amazing. Yeah, so we're a fairly new country. I guess we're still young compared to, like America and Australia, some of the other countries in Zealand, but and then we're growing. So that's part of that is an issue and I guess we'll talk about it.
Speaker 2:One of the challenges I have because we don't have and you heard me talk about it at the Women in Safety Lunch Event 19 year we don't have proper safety laws and regulations here. So it's really hard working as a safety professional because there's nothing that mandates that they have to have these things, these companies, and then there's nothing that tells them how to go about having a safe work environment. We have a health and safety at work app. It's like 20 pages long literally and that's it, and no regulations to back it up. Like the only thing they really mandate is that you have to have a occupational health and safety committee on your job if there's 20 employees or more.
Speaker 2:And even that's not enforced. Even the government themselves don't even do it, and so it speaks to an advisory council that's not in place and it just says oh employees, employers must provide a safe working environment for their employees. Okay, so how do we do?
Speaker 1:that.
Speaker 2:What constitutes a safe working environment, and then what are the?
Speaker 2:penalties and the enforcement and what's the legislative body that's enforcing these things? And if something happens, even now when we have industrial accidents and unfortunately it happens too frequently for me and so when they do happen, I share it because I wanna highlight, because people don't know sometimes what's happening, especially the fatalities, and almost always it's the police are investigating. It's an industrial accident, Like do the police understand who caused analysis? Do they go ahead and do proper things or accident investigations? Is there follow up to make sure it doesn't happen in another company? Is there any sharing of information or sharing of data and knowledge so that it doesn't happen? And none of that is taking place. And so I'm passionate about it and it's an issue for me and you'll hear my passion. I guess I let y'all ask me the questions without talk, talk, talk.
Speaker 1:We're the same though.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're a combination, so really bad. I was like don't want to keep us on track.
Speaker 1:So we got All right. Well, let's introduce you and then kind of just get straight into some of our questions. So we are thrilled to be joined today by Eustacea. She is coming to us from the Bahamas, which we've only just recently learned where it is Me. I say we, me. You've got an extensive background working in multi site facilities in Nassau, Bahamas and beyond. You've got a profound commitment to enhancing workplace safety and environmental stewardship in the Bahamas and you've got your skilled in risk management. You've got an ILM certified leader and you're not just about policies and audits, You're also deeply invested in people and showcasing exceptional leadership. It's where we met was the woman in safety leadership place in Sydney, which was amazing, and it was great meeting you because it was so fascinating to hear more about safety in the Bahamas and safety around the world that you've been, you know observing and witnessing.
Speaker 1:So do you want to tell us a little bit more about yourself?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I'm glad to be here. Y'all can call me Stacy Eustacea is such a formal name I like go by Stacy is fine. I've been working in the safety industry for about 15 years and people ask me how I got started and I know how I got started, but I think it was always in me Like I loved and I was intrigued by safety because I have a personal connection to it. So my dad and I'm a total daddy's girl. I'm the only girl eldest child and my dad suffered from an occupational health and safety illness when I was young and I would always vividly remember him taking us as a family to the beach and you know telling us well, you know, daddy's sick, he has toxic poisoning. I didn't understand what all that meant then because he was a welder and a body bottom mechanic and he did welding and so you know, on the islands there's no PPE and you know talk about, you know hazardous materials, et cetera. You know I would, I would remember my dad. You know like, oh, I got a piece of steel in my eye, like how do you get stealing your eye because you're not wearing your hood and stuff, or you know, just spraying a car and no mask or anything. And so it caught up over the years, welding on tanks and using those hazardous you know those rods and stuff no mask or anything, and all his toxins and levels of the chemicals in his body were all out of whack and it started to affect his nervous system and his ability to function. And so he had to see a lot of specialists. They didn't even know what it was at first, and but there were several other men in his industry that were showing similar signs, and so the doctor that treated him, who was a natural remedy doctor, kind of picked up on that, and we thank God for Dr Humboldt Stone because he saved his life and he was able to help him balance back out the chemicals in his body so that they were at you know levels that could be normal, so that his body could, you know, digest them or you know whatever, assimilate them and you know and eliminate them from his body. And so that was very scary. I was a teenager and I never knew what that, how that would impact my future career, but that is always very vivid in my mind. But I went into environment because I thought I wanted to be a doctor so I could help save people like my dad, et cetera, but I'm kind of scared of blood. So that didn't work. I had to find a backup plan.
Speaker 2:When I was in college I picked up environment as a minor because I worked for a senator. She was the senator and an ambassador for the environment and she was working on like the Montreal Protocol. And you know, I remember that because I was at school in McGill in Montreal when she was at the Montreal Protocol and I was like how cool is that? And I was like I don't want to work in the environment. I was like you know what? I want? A job like yours, I want to work in the environment. And I picked up environment as a minor and that was it.
Speaker 2:You know, I did my masters and my bachelor's up to was trying to do my PhD in environment and I loved environmental science and I love nature, but I also love like ecotoxicology and how chemicals and pollutants affect the environment, and so that was my focus and really environmental chemistry and really the environment. I was like I don't know what I'm doing. I'm doing everything together, you know, and coming together, but I still wasn't into the safety aspect of it yet until I got a job with a power company. And then it was like, oh, wow, this is how it kind of all fits. And so I started to, you know, learn more about safety. When I worked out as an environmental, health and safety officer, doing environmental and safety audits, getting my safety certifications, because I kind of tapped out on the environmental side and I was getting certifications and learning more about keeping people safe, and I was like, you know, this is I, like this, I really like this. I get to literally be my assistant.
Speaker 2:When I moved to Turks and Caicas to work for their power company, my assistant he was a pastor, right, and he was like I saved lives. I was like we all saved lives. So we're in the business of saving lives. You know we'd always joke about that. So we turn our safety department into a ministry, like we're in the ministry of saving lives. And so, because it would be one thing you want to know, the Bahamas and Turks and Caicas we're very Christian nations, we're very, very religious, so we incorporate that into almost everything we do.
Speaker 2:And so, yeah, that's kind of how I got into safety. So I didn't set out getting into it, but it was kind of preordained and the path of my life and everything kind of wold together and swirl together to make me, you know, the safety professional that I am. So I have a personal, passionate connection and on one of my jobs my brother worked with me at a power company and I always tell people like how can I go home to my mom and dad and be like my brother had an accident on the job? Like how do you explain that as a safety professional, you know, and I'd always remember that and I'm like that's someone's that may not be my brother, but it's someone's brother and it could have been my brother, you know. And so I always make it personal because I have a personal connection to it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think that's so important and you've touched on that Stacey around having that personal investment in safety. Often us health and safety professionals we get into safety by accident right, or we get introduced to it and then we become really passionate about saving lives. And I think you know for me I was pushed into it myself and working in Africa and countries that didn't even have running water or electricity and then trying to teach everyone about safety. But making it real, making it part of your life and putting it into storytelling, I think, is like you've got it, you've nailed it. And in thinking about that, what advice would you give people thinking of going into health and safety? They're kind of sitting on the fence, they've seen it out there. What advice would you give them in terms of their career path or why they should get into safety? Well, my first thing I always ask them is the question why?
Speaker 2:Why do you want to do this? If you want to do it just for the money, it's not going to work, you're not going to enjoy it. If you're passionate, you want to do it because you want to save lives and you're interested in it, then I will have a conversation with you. But the first question I ask for them to ask themselves is why? Why do you really want to get into this industry? Because you're literally. It's a matter of life and death. That's why I tell people you can do a good job and you don't do a good job. There are people alive that's on the line and you don't want to just get into it because you think the money is good, because it's not always good, and so when the money is in there, is it something that you would still do? Is it something that you're still passionate about? And then you want to look at. You know what's available to me and what options can I do? I have to enhance my skills and to learn more, get certifications, or do I really need to go back to school, like I didn't have to go back to school and get a degree in it? I already, you know, been to school all my life, all my life. I was about to go back to school to get another degree but there's so many certifications. It's really something you can learn on the job. Because I tell people, a lot of safety is just common sense. A lot of it is common sense that's just not so common and it just needs you know to be you to be more aware of certain things and once you get certain skills and concepts down, pack like you can. Really it's something that you can really learn on the job and find classes and courses to supplement and build your skills at. And so and it depends on where you are, how, how available that is for someone and young people in the Bahamas it's a little harder for us because we don't have those access to those safety trainings and tools.
Speaker 2:Most of my safety training I had to get my companies that I worked for sent me away to the United States to learn, or the UK, or they brought in training From the United States or the UK to train us, because we don't really have that skill set. You know, in our country. You know with safety professionals, because it's not really a thing here, right, not really courses that we have. We use a lot of things we use as OSHA, you know, which is from the United States, because you don't really have our own. So some OSHA training or IOS training from the UK, you know, et cetera, and so those are things you can really explore and actually do on your own.
Speaker 2:I have all my ISO certifications, which I love, because some of the countries companies I worked for they wanted to be ISO certified because of their international affiliations, and so I was really blessed to work for companies that had that as a goal, and so they trained me and so I was able to get my ISO. You know 45,000 and one and eight you know it was 18,000 and one, back then 14,000, et cetera, and that helps. So I'm big on management systems, so I always tell them to. You know, it's something that you can actually just find training courses and apply yourself. There's some that you could sign up for online by yourself and just read and study and then apply the knowledge that you learn in your daily work, and that's how I learned on the job.
Speaker 1:I'm curious to know because, as I said earlier, what do I know? Nothing, apparently, reading more about the Bahamas as I go, I genuinely only know about the Bahamas from like below deck. That's all I know. But I'm curious to know. Like I understand you know you've already mentioned that in the Bahamas there isn't a lot of OSHA or health and safety kind of regulation or legislation. The legislation is very light and it's essentially just you know kind of close your eyes and hope for the best. What sort of like Is it? Those that are in the industry that are doing health and safety or proactive about it? Is it mainly male dominated? Is it a mix of people? Because I'm assuming it's quite a small community. Looking at the islands online, it seems like they're very small, so I'm assuming everybody would know each other right? Yeah, we all do.
Speaker 2:Broad assumption we can swap places and jobs and move around companies. It's very few of us, unless we get a new influx of younger ones. But yeah, we have actually started. As one of the passion projects that I have, we started to assimilate a Bahamas Association of Safety Professionals to try and come together. It was actually after a slew of accidents and especially one accident where a guy went down in a tanker. He didn't come up, so another went, guy went down to get him. He didn't come up, and another went, guy went down to get him. Three of them ended up dead. It was a confined space situation in Grand Bahama and so it was really unfortunate.
Speaker 2:Some of us you know I posted about it and some other safety professionals, you know, posted under it and I'm like, hey, we need to get on a call and talk about this. Like, get together and try and really good. I've been doing stuff for a couple of years emails to ministers and departments to try and get an audience with them saying, hey, we need to do something about safety in our country. You know, no response, no response, or you know, and so maybe as a collective voice we can get some response, we can get some traction to get the government to pay more attention to what's going on so we can stop. You know what's happening and it's been about two years since then, three years, and we finally got a meeting. And I mean, sometimes it gets discouraging and then you have another accident that happens and people are like, yeah, we need to do something, and then they forget that they need to do something, and then another accident that happens and so, yeah, it's so, we're trying to do something, we're coming together as a body. We're making some traction, we have some audience in the listening air. They're going to start. We ask them to ratify some of the ILO conventions on safety. That's now, you know, really prominent and that ILO is really moving on also, and we put that forward for them to do and hopefully they are moving on that this year We've seen some talks about that happening and so there is some talk and some progress that's being made with awareness that something needs to be done. But things still are getting done, especially for me, as quickly as I want, and I'm getting a little.
Speaker 2:Sometimes I get a little discouraged. You heard me when I came to the meeting. It was the World Safety Conference and I'd heard about it from them and they still didn't send any representatives. And I volunteered to be a representative and they didn't, you know, sponsor me or anything. I went on my own accord and at the same time I was a little distraught because at the same time that was happening, cop26, and I'm a big on environment and climate change and everything too was happening in Dubai and they had like a contingency of almost 50 people over, you know, dealing with climate change and no one at the safety conference. And I was really upset about that, you know.
Speaker 2:And so I've made some posts and you know, some of the government people were a little upset at the post I had made. I was like I said what I said. Y'all don't take it seriously. Where your money is and where you put emphasis shows what you take seriously and I stand on that. And so I can send you to agitate.
Speaker 2:I continue to post, you know, and try, and I have an arrow sometimes with the media. They're my friends and so when something does happen, they'll call me and they'll be like, hey, say anything about this, the safety thing, and I'll let them know what I think and what should be going on and what we should do as a country to really protect our employees and our citizens, you know, and our workers, because one death is too many, you know, and in a small country that we have, you know, covid highlighted that because we had a lot of deaths with COVID, which were some of them were occupational, you know, we related and so that kind of put the highlight on the importance of safety. But when COVID started, you know, people like, oh, now we're forgetting about health and safety protocols and things that we need to pay attention to. And so, yeah, we as health and safety professionals, in the bomb is where we're, which we're agitating the government. We're not OK with what's going on.
Speaker 2:We want there to be more safety regulations and proper, you know, guidance for companies. But some companies want to do it. They just don't know how. And so that's where I have a private consulting firm and that's where I get my business, but I don't get a lot of business because nothing's forcing them to do it and it's also a new industry. So we have regulations and we have laws in place. Now you can have safety professionals, more safety professionals, in all of these companies, not just in the ones that are forced to have it by their parent company or because they're a high risk industry, but all of them. So it actually creates another industry for employing young people, and so I'm hoping that it takes off and we start to develop it. And, like I said, most of the companies that have safety professionals and then where we work, they're either affiliated with a global company and so they kind of have to have, or they are a high risk company, so our company is, etc. So they kind of have to you know, they need that.
Speaker 2:They know that they need safety. But even in some of those companies, a lot of it is lip service, because there's nothing forcing them, there's no one checking up on them, even if sometimes, when there's accidents and fatalities, yes, they come in we do have an OSHA unit. They'll come in, they'll do some investigation, but, like, what is the follow up? You know what are the penalties? Is there any sharing of information, even data, like when I try to get data on how many occupational health and safety accidents or, you know, fatalities we have. It's like pulling teeth. But that knowledge, that information should be out there so that companies can learn and grow from them and not make the same mistakes. And so we're trying to create that environment. So imagine trying to change the safety culture in a company where you work, but on a national scale that's how big it is, you know and trying to fight with yeah.
Speaker 1:How big is the OSHA departments?
Speaker 2:Like in the OSHA department. Well, right now I think they just got staffed with some more persons. I think they're at about 10 or so now. So before it used to be like three or four persons, but now I think they just got recently staffed, like last year. They're trying to, they have some traction and they've been trying to get training, and so I applaud them for that. But there's still a lot more that needs to be done and we are safety professionals. We've offered our services, you know, because we have the knowledge. You know a lot of us have the training. We have like a few CS keys and persons who've done international certifications, who have offered services to our government to assist them in trying to formulate, you know, the proper regulations and laws and even help with training etc. So that we can move the country forward.
Speaker 1:This is fascinating and depressing. Very it is.
Speaker 3:Extreme, yeah. But I think it's so good that you're, you know, progressing and pursuing and making, putting pressure and you guys are coming together as professionals to change it, and so for me it kind of just shows your boldness and courageous and you know, it's just really, really inspirational and going into that.
Speaker 2:I blacklisted a little bit in some people, but you know.
Speaker 3:I'm like it's not and I don't want it.
Speaker 2:It's not political, no matter which government is in power, because mom is very political. Everything is political and attached to politics, and that's what happens. So whenever another power company, another party comes into power, I kind of literally have to start all over again and now convince this party that it's important to listen to. And as soon as I get some traction, there's another party that comes and I gotta start all over again when I have. You know, it's not a political issue, it's a national issue, it's a thing of national importance, and so that's what we really want to push, you know, and not politicizing it.
Speaker 2:It's not about its government, it's really about, you know, protecting your people, you know so. Yeah for sure yeah.
Speaker 3:So talk to us about. You're a world traveler, right. I'm sure you've kind of learned a lot of things and brought that back to the Bahamas. How did you get into traveling and you do travel a lot by yourself. I see that you love traveling alone because you don't have to worry about waiting for anyone, or I kind of read your story. But talk to us a little bit about your travel and how you bring some of that knowledge back into the Bahamas.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we're at some of our world travel events. 103 countries that's how I met you all in New Zealand was my 98th country.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:And so, yeah, I just love traveling. I started I guess I really started heavily after I had some friends, close friends, that passed away and we always used to make plans to travel and we'd say we travel and we didn't. And it reminded me how short life is and not putting things off and traveling is something I love to do and not waiting on people. And then some of my close travel buddies passed away, so I didn't have people to travel with. So I was like you know what? I'm just going to go and I'm going to travel. And that's what kind of happened.
Speaker 2:I try to be as safe as possible because I am a safety person, and so unfortunately I don't know, unfortunately or fortunately, you know, we always have, you know, I always have plans and I do risk analysis on everything. You know, I sell backup plans and take you know. People is like, oh my gosh, you're so brave. I was like, yeah, I'm not brave. I take calculated risk, I do my assessments and I have backup plans and contingencies etc. And so, yeah, I just I just go, and I have done most of them by myself and I love going to different countries and seeing how they approach environment, especially because I love nature, but also I always, always looking at safety things when I travel. I'm like, oh, that's cool, Let me take a picture of this. Well, how do they do that, you know? And looking at job sites, etc.
Speaker 2:And researching some of these countries, Because a lot of the countries I go to also are small island developing states, and I try to see how they're approaching some of their issues. You know, Some of them have support from larger countries because they're still like Netherlands, etc. They're still under some of those countries that have developed and have proper, you know, laws and safety regulations and environmental regulations, and so I look to see how that could be applicable to us here in the Bahamas and how they approach those things. So, yeah, it's really exciting and I always see, you know, like when I go to Asia and I look at their bamboo scaffolds and I'm like, you know, but it's a cultural thing, right, yeah.
Speaker 2:I can't imagine working over there. You know people are having to assess bamboo bamboo scaffolding. You know, as a safety checklist. I'm certainly doing hazardous assessments on those, but you learn that you know safety it has to be culturally relevant also and you have to, and that's the thing with the Bahamas because we are in a country that is not very used to. You know having safety enforced when you go. When I do have jobs and I work for companies, it's one of the hardest things to change the safety culture because they have done things you know all these years. You know my grandparents and this is how we do stuff. We never were PPE and you know that kind of thing and having to change the mindset of first and having to show them why this is important and helping them to understand the why is the most important thing you know, so that they can actually comply.
Speaker 1:That's pretty cool.
Speaker 2:I don't know if it's cool, but it's a lot.
Speaker 1:Well, okay, so earlier you mentioned I'm again. I'm just so curious to know like I've become now, clearly in the last two minutes, obsessed with the Bahamas you have to come.
Speaker 2:It looks amazing like the pictures online a while when I talk to a lot on how the next safety, women and safety conference in the Bahamas yeah, I feel like the next conference needs to be held in the Bahamas.
Speaker 3:Exactly.
Speaker 1:What a time. So I'm curious to understand a little bit more about your legislation, because I was just having a quick Google now about it because clearly I know nothing. What, from your perspective, is kind of the key elements of the kind of health and safety at work act that you need to kind of meet the requirements of, to kind of help organizations better improve their safety? What are some of those kind of legal obligations you need to meet?
Speaker 2:Like I said, there are not many there. One of the only ones that is there is requiring that they have a health and safety committee. If you are a company of 20 employees or more, you're mandated by the law to have a health and safety committee, and I think that's a starting point. Any company I go into, any job I take, that's one of the first things I do is establish a health and safety committee, because it's so important to get persons talking, to actually have a forum where you discuss health and safety in the company. If you have nowhere to go and you're not discussing it, it's just one person doing safety. You have a safety person. That's what they usually hire. Oh, we're going to hire the safety lady, but I can't be the only person in charge of safety. You know, we always say safety is everybody's business and that's the first thing I do to make sure that it becomes everybody business. And establishing a proper health and safety committee, having representative from each level of the organization and also different departments, gets that conversation happening. And that's the people that you train and those are the people that you start to make more aware of some of the safety issues in the company, who start to implement change at their levels and in their various departments and they become your little I call it my little minions, you know and they start doing my job because a lot of places I don't have safety departments. It's just me. I've hardly ever had a staff Like most of the times it's just me, I think. One other company, I've had one other person helping me and that's it. And they expect me to do everything environmental and safety and like that's not going to work. But okay, if you think that's going to work, anyway, we're going to get the safety committee together. We're going to get these. I'm going to, you know, mobilize them, weaponize them, train them, you know, give them the tools, give them their checklist, their inspections, their job, and they're going to be my workers.
Speaker 2:And sometimes it's hard because this is on top of their all the job they already have, because nobody really has health and safety written into their job description, which it should be in everybody's job description, right, because it's everybody's business. But that's not really how they were hired to do. And so then they started looking are we getting paid extra for this? How much may we get in for being on the safety committee? I'm like I'll buy you a snack, like how about that? You know, but I treat my safety committees really well. I try to because I know, I try to incentivize them because it's not something they're used to doing, it's not something they have to engage in, and so I try to make it, you know, worth their while, and so show them the reason why. Another thing I like to do is implement some kind of safety reward system, you know, because you don't want to just punish and penalize people, especially if they don't have any knowledge of anything as yet. So, reward system, highlighting the good things that people are doing and try to build off of that. And so I found that to be very successful in some of the companies that I've been in. And then, you know, building the safety management system and having systems in place and going from there.
Speaker 2:But as far as the law, like I said, the only thing there is the safety committee, you know, and then even a national safety advisory group that should be there, which will get people talking about safety at a national level. That's not in place. Fundamental, that's in the legislation. That's one of the first things that needs to be in place so that they can be aware and they can talk about what's going on when it comes to safety, and that's one of the things we've asked the government to put in place to put in place this advisory committee, so that they are talking about these fatalities, they're talking about the safety accident, they're talking about where's the regulations that we're supposed to be putting in place, but that's not even in place.
Speaker 2:So who's advising the? You know the powers that beat a minister, etc. On health and safety? Nobody, because it's not in place. So, like I said, the government has to lead by example, right? They need to implement their committee, they need to make sure the government agencies have their committees, and then also the companies that are working, and most of them have more than 20 employees. They should have a health and safety committee and if they need help informing them, they can call a consultant like me. Then I can get work, yeah.
Speaker 3:I love the way that you spoke about empowering your health and safety reps. I think that's so important. I see them as leaders. They are leaders to create environments where we can see opportunities for improvement, right. So what advice would you have for someone, a health and safety professional going into an organization? They're the only ones that are leading in that space and everyone thinks, okay, the health and safety ladies here or the man's here, and they will sort everything out. What advice would you have for them to approach people to become reps? What will it make attractive to become a rep? What would you say?
Speaker 2:in other words, Well, for that I just it's really important to make them understand the why, why it's important. Personalize it. Like I said, you have to make it personal, you have to. You know most of them. They love their jobs, you know they want to do it and they love their colleagues, and you want to make sure that you go back home to your family and your colleague goes back home to their family safely. And so I always start from a personal level. I always share my story and my personal experience with safety and a safe work environment and why it's important, and you kind of just get that I have a way of getting that buy-in with persons.
Speaker 2:But you have to be a people's person, you have to be able to be open, you have to be able to come down to their level, you have to be able to see things from their perspective. You can't they can't look at you like that, as a policeman or you know, someone walking around with a little stick or something. No one wants to be like that and they want to be, you know, respected by their colleagues still, but not faired. And so you have to make sure that they understand what the role is and the importance of it and so holding those kind of meetings and sessions and we're very clear about what constitutes the committee and what the parameters are and what you're going to be doing as a safety rep and on the safety committee, and then also not making them feel like it's mandatory. You know, I always ask them and I tell them if you don't want to be here, let me know, because we can find someone else that does want to be here and finding people who are willing, for the right reasons, to be there, and so that that always helps and just, and you can just ask them around.
Speaker 2:And I always tell people to look around and be observant. You can tell who in the company is already kind of safety conscious and who would be good at that, and sometimes it's even the ones that I've found actually the ones that are getting into trouble sometimes who are the most vocal. They make some of the best safety reps. Yeah, they're always in trouble, but they're going to be vocal about it, they're going to tell you what's going on and they're going to speak their mind. Get those guys, so we're going to make a lot of noise for you. Who's going to help you out, who's not afraid to speak their mind, you know, and so I always try and and those are some of the ones and when you, when you then get them on your team, you I mean they make, they make noise for the right reasons and they help to move their movers and shakers in the company and they help to really push the safety message and they bring along their colleagues with them, and so it's always good to identify the right people.
Speaker 3:Awesome. Do you think that providing their people leaders with the knowledge about what their role is is also important to get them on board, to give them the time to be able to do what they need to do in terms of their role?
Speaker 2:Yes, definitely. Just, I train my safety team, we have training sessions, we learn about techniques. I don't just give them jobs. You know how to do inspections, because it's new to a lot of them, a lot of them, this is a new thing for them. They've not been in safety environments before or had to do these things, and so training is very important and they like to share the knowledge that they learn.
Speaker 2:And so and I train leaders too, because actually one of my hardest battles is not even getting the, the, the workers on board, is really getting top management on board. They're the ones I have to usually convince that safety is important, and so it's a top up struggle and push a lot of times with these companies, because it's not required from them and they don't see it in their bottom line, etc. Because it's not something that's pushed. And so I have training sessions too, with, with the, with, with with the leaders of the company, because you can't, they have to be the leader, they have to be the ones driving safety, else it doesn't work. And sometimes, a lot of times when I do leave hunch companies, when I because my resume is very long and a lot of times is when I'm not making any headway with, with top management, and it's so. I'm really just spinning my wheel, because the, the, the, the, the staff can tell if top management is serious or not, and they will follow suit. And so they can tell if you're just putting lip service and when you don't want to, you know, provide a budget or you're not showing up to safety meetings or you're not following the safety protocols, and so they follow suit. And so I'm like why am I killing myself and you, you doing this?
Speaker 2:You know, and I'm a type of safety leader, a professional. I am not afraid to speak truth to power. I have sent my CEOs from a job site because they don't have on PDE before I've done it. You know you have to be able to be that person, no matter what level you're at, which level you're speaking to, and be consistent. You know with that, and so we have to be able to to do that. You know, as safety professionals understand, you know what our roles are, but also not to coward in the face of of I call it truth, you know, and not staring aside of. You know, safety, I don't compromise when it comes to it, and if it comes to compromising safety versus staying on a job. I have walked off jobs because I will not compromise safety. I will not sign off on something that I know is unsafe, and if you're not, then I can't be a part of this. You know, and that's a line that I do not cross.
Speaker 1:I'm again always curious you know you spoke earlier about your dad and your dad having, you know, an occupational injury, especially around occupational health etc. Etc. Something that I'm also curious about considering. See again, I circle back to how little I know about the Bahamas. I'm obsessed with the Bahamas now, considering how small it is and there's all these little islands and everybody kind of knows each other. In my mind, that says to me, if someone gets harmed or someone gets hurt or there's an occupational health issue in an industry, that's your friend, your cousin, your uncle, brother, your someone you know how does that impact?
Speaker 1:you know the community, or how does that you know? How does that impact that psychological safety element of safety in the Bahamas?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and, like I said before, I mentioned it. So when it happens it's always a oh my gosh, I can't believe this happened, you know, because we will post it and then you'll have comments underneath and everything and it'll be like a big hula for a couple of like a week or so and then people kind of forget except the family that it impacts, right? I'll give you an example. So we would have, like recently, we'll have like a court case and it was like, oh, a worker that got injured on the E on the job literally this was the headlines the other day worker that got injured on the job in 2003 Was court case, was settled for fifty thousand dollars and the company was found by, you know, liable for these injuries 2003.
Speaker 2:Why is it taking 20 years to to litigate occupation, health and safety, injury and those are the kind of things that happen. And then people will start. I know this lady and I remember when this happens to her and this is what happened. But a lot of people know people, but then nobody is really doing anything about it, or if you do, you get tied up in the court system because there's not proper laws and regulations to protect you, to move it along Right, and so it's a catch-22 type situation. And so we have, you know, a body that's in charge of occupational health and safety injury, like workers compensation type thing, where they give out the monies and you know ward, you know If you are, if it is an occupation, they'll pay for some of the, the medical expenses, etc. But when it comes to actually, you know, finding companies liable and getting any compensation for them for any like lost wages or anything like that, especially if it's gross negligence or anything on their part, the court system isn't very helpful, and so persons are left fighting these battles.
Speaker 2:About a time. They go to what? A $50,000. Their legal fees were probably like $40,000. So what do you really get 20 years later After you injured yourself on a job Because of your employees, employers, negligence, and so, like I said, it's just not proper regulations that are protecting our workers to make sure that they are treated fairly.
Speaker 2:You know, in a lot of these companies they're not providing right PPE, they're not providing right training, and these people get hurt on their jobs. They can't go back home to their families to provide. What do they do now? Right, those who actually survive, and then the other ones who passed away. What do their families do? And you have a lot of these kind of cases that are caught up threat, deadlock in the system and that's why I like being a consultant. Just before, when I worked for companies, I couldn't really talk like this because I had to worry about my job. But now I'm a consultant, I can say whatever I want you know, buddy, you know nobody to censor me or whatever and so it's really important that we think about these workers, because it could be your, your family, like you said. It's very it could be someone that you know it could be, you know it could happen to you, and so we want to make sure that proper laws are in place so that our workers are protected.
Speaker 3:So thinking about and the larger organizations that are in the Bahamas, and Would they not want to get involved in coming together and putting pressure on the government to, you know, change the law or and get involved in terms of their? I think about the sustainability Reports or these sustainability obligations. Wouldn't they be thinking about ethics and those types of things and wanting to get involved to make change?
Speaker 2:Some of them do, but Not really, because then that forces them to have to do more right and it's gonna affect their, their bottom line. And then you have some that will support from the background. We're seeing it more with the environmental side it's starting to catch on and some of the private companies are pushing and supporting. On the safety side it's been very slow to catch on, but a lot of the professionals, like I said, who are in our Bahamas Association of Safety Professionals, they work for these companies and so in their own way they are pushing and helping To progress it. But even some of them, I find, have been a little hesitant because they don't want their employee yours to find out that they're a part of pushing this, because it may be seen as oh, you're gonna cause those problems and are you gonna cause as many? Because we're gonna have to be doing all these extra Things. That's gonna cost the company and so Safety right.
Speaker 2:Exactly, and that's what it all boils down to right, and I always tell people you're gonna pay for it either on the front end or the back end. I rather pay for it on the front end, you know, and invest in it to make it better Than having to pay for, you know, lawsuits or loss in productivity and loss in lives and those kind of things, and all that is a part of training that you have to do, to hire up to help them to understand that it's in their best interest, in the best interest, even on the bottom line, to do safety properly and to do it on the front end and not as an afterthought. Right, because I've literally gone into companies.
Speaker 2:Yes, make good business sense. I've gone into companies and you know like, oh my gosh, it's gonna cost us so much to retrofit this, you know, to be safe. I'm like, yeah, so you should have brought in a safety expert at the beginning, before you built this, so that it doesn't cost you on the back end, right like you know, horse before the cart kind of thing. Yeah, it happens all the time and so, yeah it's. We have a lot of battles to fight, but yeah, it's a lot. Sometimes I literally, I literally want to pack up and like I was trying to move to the UK. I'm like it'll be so much easier to work with safety perfection in the United States or in the UK, because then you know like this is what you have to do. If you don't do it, osha is going to come on. You just do it right, do inspections, go about your weight, and it's so much easier. But yeah, I have to do it for my people.
Speaker 1:That's. You know what it's. It's a fascinating story and I'm like I'm blown away about how much headway you've made. Firstly, I think it's phenomenal how much headway you've made with such little resourcing, but I'm I also and then so sad that there's still so much more to do. Like, how do you keep yourself motivated? What are you doing? Because you're just a ball of joy and energy. How are you self motivated?
Speaker 2:It's hard. Sometimes I'm not, sometimes I'm not. I'll go weeks without thinking about or doing anything and I've literally like washed off dealing with certain people because I they're just frustrated me and I can't deal with them anymore and I wouldn't, and then something would happen like an accident or something it'd be like. This is why I do it. I need to stay motivated. Not for me it's not about my feelings, is literally about saving lives, is about protecting someone, and you know, and then I start to feel bad. You know, I'm like kind of like it's on me. You know it's like I'm not doing enough and these accidents are still happening. You know I need to do more to try and help, you know, protect these workers. And so you know, I always use to tell people that's why I kind of got out of safety.
Speaker 2:I was like I don't lose sleep over dead fish somewhat. You know, they don't keep me up at night for, say, but you know humans and you know getting hurt and injuries of it. They keep me up at night for sure. You know, and this is really on me, and so that keeps me motivated, knowing that I'm literally helping to save lives and protecting, you know, workers, and so it keeps me going. It doesn't always pay the bills, but it keeps me going and it's sometimes it gets hard to get sad, especially when you know the person, like it happened the other day with that, and I knew him purse, I'd worked with him, you know, I had, I had worked with him just last year, you know, and he passed, he had a industrial accident and passed away and it was just, it was numb for a little while, you know, and it was just like wow, you know.
Speaker 3:So that what are some of the things or advice that you could give to others in the industry? We've all been through through some traumatic experiences and that kind of knocks you back for a six, and all of the time I think about my experiences in Africa and what I've seen from unsafe work acts and and just sometimes us as self health and safety professionals get really down. We don't have an avenue to kind of express how we feel. And what are some of the things that you would tell people to kind of get back to their well being, fitness, mental fitness and how they can kind of keep going as you do?
Speaker 2:therapy I believe in therapy get a good shrink psychologist that's all. I get through stuff and a lot of times, and hopefully it's a part of your wellness program at your company. That's something that I think is very important with companies to make sure they have that available to employees, especially when they're traumatic events you know at the workplace and or your people who are, you know someone at your company. It passed away because of industrial incident. And to make that, to make sure that that is available to your staff who would like you know, to speak with someone and help them through what their experience, because they're sharing with someone else who has been there, and that's what I say to speak about it and really digest you know how and why it's affecting you the way it does. It's because you feel partly responsible, or how can you then help? You know, to make sure and to buffer yourself.
Speaker 2:And one of it is not becoming numb to it, because I've found people that's what they do they become numb now to industrial accidents and incidents. I literally spoke to a news reporter because we have homicide issues happening and she's like she goes to crime scenes and it doesn't move her, like she's numb to it, and we don't ever want that to happen to our safety professionals. That's the extreme, because now you're not caring about the person, etc. And you've removed feelings from it and you've removed you know yourself, and that's not good either, right. So having that balance, making sure you have available a train professional that you can speak to do to unpack some of these issues and feelings and situations that may pop up.
Speaker 3:Awesome.
Speaker 1:I'm, you know. Yeah, having a psychologist on hand is great. I think you know I'm pro-counseling and psychologist as well. But what are some of the things someone can do that doesn't potentially have access to those resources? Or are there any like personal habits that you can share that kind of keeps you motivated?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I keep my goals in front of me. So, personal habits. So, even if I lose a fight with something right and something doesn't go my way, I try to see, okay, what other wins do I have, and not focus on just the bad things that are going on. But look at the good things and that's, with safety in general, right. What are the wins, what are we making progress with and what are some things that we can do that can make a big impact. That may not, you know, require, you know, a huge budget or buy-in.
Speaker 2:And look for the small wins. You know, in safety, and there are a lot of those around Look for areas that you are making progress in, even if you it seems like you're not making progress. You know, in the big scheme of things, there are areas, there are people, I'm sure, that are benefiting from what you're doing. And capitalize on those things and focus on them, because you can get discouraged and you can get, you know, despondent and think that you're not making any headway. But look for the small wins. You know, and I tried to do that as often as possible, even like in my personal life, you know I was like yeah, I want to see all the countries in the world, yeah.
Speaker 2:And then I'm like, oh, I'm not making any headway, so I did a small goal, right. I'm like, okay, I'm going to sing 50 commentary. I reached that. Good, I'm 50. Now I'm going to do 100. I'm going to do a big one. You know, do a bite size so that you can see progress and you don't get discouraged on your way to your big goal. And that always helps you. And even in my professional career I do the same thing. And so do those bite size wins and celebrate them. Like, make a big deal of it. You know, even when we go like a couple of days without an accident, you know, on a job, we're going to celebrate it because that's, that's more than we had before. Right, we're going to celebrate. Yeah, we only did 15 job inspections this, right, but that's 15 more than we ever did. So we're going to celebrate it. So, celebrate your small wins, look for them, and persons also will will catch on and then they'll start to really, you know, keep you motivated and uplifted for sure.
Speaker 1:That's, that's good advice as well, because I think, you know, I think we forget so often, we get so bogged down in the statistics and the kind of log of doing the work.
Speaker 1:That we forget to set ourselves like little goals that we can achieve and then celebrate those. And just a little goal and then achieve, and you can celebrate that because it's they all add up, they're compounding, and you know, I think that's that's a really valid way to do. It is, if you are feeling like it's too big, make a little bit Definitely. Um, you mentioned like I'm again so curious, I sweet, I might, I might just move to the Bahamas just to see we're going to bring you down here.
Speaker 1:So many questions, um, being a small island nation, um, we're also an island nation, so you know I'm I'm curious to know what from like a national perspective. You already mentioned that there isn't great health and safety nationally, but I'm curious from a national perspective, how do you manage big emergency events, like you know, hurricanes, to get tsunami warnings?
Speaker 2:I don't know.
Speaker 1:Really.
Speaker 2:But hurricane is a big thing. That's one thing that we do kind of well, because it is a big thing here in the Bahamas and even though we do it pretty well at a national level, I don't think we're doing it good enough at company level. So we do have a national hurricane you know emergency plan. We have a national emergency management agency that's in charge of response to large hurricanes hurricane, you know, and even with all these large, any kind of emergency, even in a company, preparation is the key right Right being prepared and having a plan and everybody knowing what they're supposed to do when the event happens. Because you can't prepare for something when it's here. You have to prepare before and you have to have plans in place, etc.
Speaker 2:And so, at a national level, hurricane Dorian, unfortunately in 2019, it was one of our most devastating hurricanes, our most devastating hurricanes here period. We lost a lot of lives. Two of our islands were almost completely wiped out. It was really we had never seen anything like it before in the Bahamas at all and it really tested our emergency system and because of it we came out stronger and we developed more plans and restoration. We're still recovering A lot of things are still recovering from hurricane Dorian, but it was a learning experience for us. Unfortunately, a lot of lives were lost, but we have learned. But that's at a national level.
Speaker 2:So even at company levels, I find that I go into companies and a lot of companies don't have hurricane plans. I say where's your hurricane plan? Where's your emergency response plan? Where's your fire response plan? Like, like, like simple things like they just don't have, like I'm like. I'm like, how are you even operating? So if something happens, what are you going to do? You don't. Nobody knows what to do, nobody knows what their role is, nobody knows who the. You know the, the, the, the responders are Nobody's trained. You know who your CPR and who's who has first aid training in this company, and they're like huh.
Speaker 1:Like like it's really really hard. Yeah, it's really. If you have it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's, it's, it's in a, it's a far all the way paper and they don't. I'll give you an example of a company I worked for in Turks and Cakes, the power company. You know, we practice like a hurricane response plan with something that was serious, like we practice our hurricane response plan, we had drills where we literally had tables and mock you know, mock exercises where we will shut down the company for a day and we will pretend this is a hurricane. What do we do? How do we respond? Okay, now that the hurricane is passed, what are we going to do? You know what are the preparations? We like literally give out garbage bags to put on plastic and everything. Everybody gets their sat phones and test them and everything. And so we walk through a hurricane plan, we walk through an emergency response or, you know, a fire, um, um can be these scenarios and we actually do it.
Speaker 2:And so when hurricanes came, the power company they got awards for actually, you know, being up and running, you know, quickly after the hurricane and the response, and you know they were, you know, recognized internationally for their response time and getting, you know, the island back and running because they practiced it. You know, it wasn't just a plan and a paper that people knew about. We literally practiced it every year, you know, sometimes twice a year, to make sure that persons are aware of it and they knew exactly what they were supposed to do in the event of a hurricane. Really important, and so we're getting better nationally, but it still takes, you know, efforts within the companies to also understand what are we going to do when a hurricane comes and then how do we get back to operation afterwards and making sure that our people are safe. And you know, getting up and running safely and prioritizing human life, you know, over the business, you know, and making sure that that's the priority.
Speaker 3:That's amazing.
Speaker 1:What are some of the main industries in the Bahamas?
Speaker 2:Well, the main industry is tourism. So tourism is our main industry. That's our bread and butter, that's every. And that's why when COVID happened and it shut the country down for the, it was yeah, it was really really hard on us as a country because nobody was coming in. That's I mean industry, you know. And then we had to make sure people felt safe afterwards, you know, with protocols etc. And getting up and running.
Speaker 2:I had that's when I started working up for myself, you know, and I lost my job, which was a blessing and a disguise, because then I was able to work for myself and then all these companies were needing safety professionals to come and help them to get reopened. You know and learn, you know and do safety protocols for COVID to get reopened, etc. And so the main industry is tourism, and so there's public safety involved with that, plus your actual workers and being making sure that they're safe. And so you'll find that at the major hotels and some of those industries, because of tourism and what they're handling, they have safety professionals on board and they have to have that and they have their lifeguards and they have, you know, other persons in place to make sure that they are keeping their employees safe, but also the guests safe. The same. Nobody want to get sued right, and that's the big flip.
Speaker 2:Trips and falls are one of the main things, and even in the hotel industry they have a lot of injuries etc. Not a lot of that, but they have a lot of injuries, the trips and falls and a lot of accidents etc. As you can imagine. You know there. But yeah, tourism is the major industry. And then we have banking, so financial stuff, and then you have industries that of course you just need, so your power industry, utilities industry, and those are already in of itself high risk, right? Because you're dealing with high power voltage and bucket trucks and working at heights and all sorts of things, and so you have those.
Speaker 2:Then you have fishing. Is the industry also a big industry here to lobster and fishing? We love our seafood, it's surrounded by water, so fishing. And then you know we have some smaller industries also, but tourism is definitely our major one industry that we are trying to protect and make sure that our guests are safe, but also our workers are safe In terms of hospitality and it sounds like retail and banking and finance in New Zealand and both Nikola and I, one of our critical risks that the companies that we work for is aggressive behavior or violent behavior.
Speaker 3:What is that like in the Bahamas? Does that happen? I mean, it's becoming a huge issue in New Zealand where our front lines to deal with that. Is that something that you encounter in the Bahamas?
Speaker 2:Yes, we do, we do. We've had situations on jobs where there has been workplace violence, some that did not end well at all with with that, and then even just just harassment on the jobs. You know, not just females but just harassment on the jobs, etc. Sometimes it's kind of cultural not cultural, but a cultural acceptable. You know, behavior is known to be a little bigity and a little feisty, you know, and people play around a lot somewhat. You know, I can get a little hostile, but it has to be something that you be able to put in place, policies and procedures to protect workers from, and right now there's no policy and no legislation, of course, that protects them in those cases. But there is more that needs to be done because we are seeing and not necessarily an increase, but we are seeing people become more vocal about it, so we're hearing about it a lot more issues and grievances on jobs where fights erupt and you know their issues Customers as well, pardon me.
Speaker 2:Customers oh yeah, that's who, yeah, but customers even like, like, sometimes like tourists, come here and they're like some of the worst, right. So combine alcohol and you're on, you know, vacation and family members who are working here. So imagine alcohol on your vacation and you're in the casino losing money, like how volatile that situation could become. And so, even though customer service is correct, you know we have to teach and train our persons to make sure that they protect themselves too right, and how to handle and de-escalate situations and making sure that everybody remains safe and making sure we have systems in place right where you can report and resolve and address these type of situations so that they don't get out of hand. And a lot of times that's what it is.
Speaker 2:Things escalate, you know, like it's not usually just a one time thing, especially in companies with coworkers.
Speaker 2:It's usually an escalation of events that's happening and nobody's paying attention, especially in HR, or was reported and they try to sweep it on the rug, and then someone gets fed up and can't take it anymore and then you have these things happening. So making sure you create an environment where persons are okay to speak up, you know, and to resolve these things. I know ILO just had a workshop on workplace violence and harassment. We attended that here and hoping that you know, our country also puts in place procedures and regulations and policies to protect workers in that case. But there's so many that needs, so many procedures and regulations that needs to be put in place. So what we're really calling on are the companies to put them in, even if the government's not mandating it. You as a company understand why you need to maintain a safe work environment, so you should put these policies and procedures in place so that there is you know that these things don't. If they happen, you have a way of addressing them and you have systems in place to identify them and incorrect these problems.
Speaker 3:Awesome. So I guess it's that time of day where we need to wrap up. I'll just give you a summary, but Nicola's got an interesting question to ask after that. I think thank you so much for joining us, Stacy. It's been really. You are inspirational. From the first day that we met you, I just sort of bubbly awesome woman who's just taken the world by the horns and, just you know, traveled extensively, and so from our conversation today, I've taken it all Be bold, be curious, be passionate about what you do. Don't do it for the money, because it's sometimes a thankless job. However, it's so rewarding to be able to make change. Never stop trying. Although you may face some obstacles and challenges, take those as opportunities for improvement and then build the capability of your health and safety reps, because they are our future of you, know what's happening on the ground and how we can use their knowledge to really change culture. So thank you so much. It's been awesome, and I'm hoping to visit the Bahamas now and have some of that awesome seafood yes, please.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so we've got a bit of a tradition on the podcast now and we have a very it's almost like verbal charades and what we're going to ask you to do is describe a couple of things. Don't tell us what they are, but describe a couple of things that would be found in your handbag or your purse that might be unique just to you, and we will try and guess what that item is.
Speaker 2:Okay, Okay, all right, I take this with me because I may decide that I need to. It's. I have two of them. That's first of all, in my bag. They always with me because I never know when I need to make an escape and I need it in order to escape and in order to go somewhere. Keys.
Speaker 1:No, oh, is it like one of those things that can cut like a seatbelt?
Speaker 2:No, okay, maybe escape is not the right word, so I can leave my island and explore. So it's always. They're always in my purse. I can't leave the country without them. Passport, passports, both of my passports. Yes, they're always in my purse, just in case I need to go to the airport and take a flight. You've got two of them.
Speaker 1:I love this.
Speaker 3:I have two, yes, I have a behavior one and a British one. I just carry my passports with me. I just carry them with me.
Speaker 2:I'm like a colleague, at least one of them is always in my bag, at least one, just in case.
Speaker 1:That's a good plan. It forces you to think about wanting to travel more, right.
Speaker 2:Yes, I used to work at the airport. I used to be in the environmental statement at the airport and I used to Fridays. I would always have an extra suitcase in my car sometimes, just in case I want to take a trip, just in case I decided I want to take a flight this weekend. I'm just going to go to work. Spontaneous. Yeah, my suitcase in my car, just in case.
Speaker 1:All right, do you have something else in your purse that you could describe to us? That was a good one. That was a good one.
Speaker 2:Okay, so it's brown.
Speaker 1:It's burgundy.
Speaker 2:It's small and I use it just in case I need to feel pretty or freshen up for the cameras or if I run into someone. Is it purple? It's purple. Sometimes it's a purple brown color.
Speaker 3:And I'm wearing it now.
Speaker 2:Lipstick yes, my lipstick and the name of it is actually sin. Oh nice, it's not red, it's not bold, but it's not like you know. It's kind of I can use it for work, but it's, you know, it's not too out there, so it's called sin.
Speaker 1:See, I am so obsessed with the Bahamas now, why are there not more people visiting the Bahamas?
Speaker 2:There are millions of tourists every year. There's not more people from your side than the world coming over Because it's so far and you guys have other you know sunset and sea destinations that are closer right Go to Fiji, maldives, etc.
Speaker 1:Oh.
Speaker 2:Maldives is very far from us. Well, there, yeah, it is kind of far, but it's closer than we are. But Boroboro, you have Boroboro in Fiji, in Tahiti and some other island nations that are closer to the sky. Yeah.
Speaker 3:I know what to? Yeah, all of them.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So you know, it's not but for persons on this side of the hemisphere and even European tourists, trust me, we are a hotspot destination. We are.
Speaker 1:I feel like.
Speaker 3:I have to make that check.
Speaker 2:But if you come all the way over here, you're not going to just come to the Bahamas, right, Because you're going to have to go through the United States to come here anyway. So you kind of make a trip out of it like how I do I never go to just one country. If I fly all the way, I'm going to go to at least four or five countries in one trip. Yeah, I'm going to make that $18 flight worth it. Yes, it has to be.
Speaker 1:It has been so awesome chatting to you. I feel like I've I'm so sorry that I was so ignorant or naive about Bahamas.
Speaker 2:Now, you know so much about us.
Speaker 1:I am also such a cool flag Side note. Yeah, it's beautiful. Yeah, beautiful, and I also, I also love that on my while I was kind of Googling the Bahamas in the background, Also remembered that I watched the Fire Festival documentary.
Speaker 2:Oh that that's correct. We don't that, or the FTX scandal. We don't want to know about bad things. You know, are some athletes that we have that go through Olympics and win gold Shawnee Miller, steven, you know, you know, get a golden girl. That's what we want to be known for.
Speaker 1:And you also have that really really lovely looking woman in like Miss World and stuff.
Speaker 2:Yes, we do, yes, we want. Yeah, top 10 last two years ago with Shantel and the rest of them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, beautiful, what's your biggest thing you guys do? Do you guys do a sport?
Speaker 2:Well, we just our national sport used to be cricket and we just changed it last year to sailing. Thank God Nobody really played cricket. But we do have great sailors, even like the younger kids and stuff. They go into sailing, sailing competitions and they're great with sailors. But we actually have a lot of like young Bahamians that are in the NBA basketball that get drafted. We have at least five Bahamian basketball players in the NBA right now and then other parts of the world playing in Europe, et cetera. So basketball was really big baseball. So we have we just had like eight Bahamians drafted by the NLB in the United States, like 17 year olds and stuff to be trained and recruited at a national basketball baseball league in the United States Because we have an awesome feeder program from their young in baseball.
Speaker 2:We have one or two that are playing football and getting recruited and over there. So like we're a small country, like very small right, we're under 500, we're not even half a million population and the quality of persons that come to stars and athletes and the talent that come from this small country, it's just mind blowing. Like we're just like the amazing little rock on this. Just we said that God smile when he was making the Bahamas. Like he just like, yeah, it was another one. So we have Shawnee Miller, we've got golden girls and we collect like we're one of the top like medals per capita, always at the top metals per capita.
Speaker 3:Like literally 100 meters.
Speaker 2:Yes, 100 meters are golden girls. And the 400 meter with Shawnee Miller we bow and Steven Gardner and the rest of them to high jump. Yeah, we had some amazing, some amazing people that come out of the Bahamas. Trust me, now that you know you're going to start seeing stuff, it's going to be like you know, like in Paris this year.
Speaker 2:so you're going to be, we're actually hosting the world relays that leads up to Paris. It's going to be held here in the Bahamas. So we're hosting all the countries, that sort of relay team. They have to qualify for Paris here for the world relays. I think that's May or March, may, yeah, I think.
Speaker 1:And so because they want to come to Bahamas and I like I'm coming like a freight train, because I am like every time I Google something different, the pictures yeah, it's oh my gosh, and you're gonna.
Speaker 3:You're staying with you. We're staying with you, yeah.
Speaker 2:I'll give you a tour for sure. Like I, literally I walk outside in my Andres and I'm right, right on the beach and like, and I just go out, there goes from me, I walking in the evenings and just peaceful and quiet. There's nobody else on the beach with me and it's just great on this island not not so, it's not like that, but it, andres, yes.
Speaker 1:Well, we're definitely coming to your island. I just prepared when yet, but we'll make it happen.
Speaker 2:Yes, for sure, but it's been great, ladies, it's been awesome it has been awesome and you know.
Speaker 1:Thank you again so much for your time. We really appreciate it. We know that you've got some heavy rain and weather coming in, so it actually stock for you guys.
Speaker 2:It's going to pick up again later, but I'm glad it's.
Speaker 1:And also for all our listeners. Thank you for joining us in this amazing conversation. Please remember to like, follow and subscribe so that you can hear more awesome conversations. You know we've got so many great, you know interviews coming up and this one, just this one's knocked it out of the park for me, like I, for sure, I've become obsessed obsessed.
Speaker 3:And, stacy, you're such an inspiration. Honestly, keep doing what you're doing. You're amazing, thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you again. Thank you again for coming on.
