Nancy Aboultaif sur la sécurité sans blâme, l'arrêt de travail et la mise en place de systèmes qui protègent les gens 

Communication Starts by Leaving the Computer

When asked how she keeps communication open, Aboultaif does not point to a formal system first. She points to presence.

In her view, one of the most important things a safety professional can do is step away from the desk and go where the work happens. Watch the task. Sit in on the toolbox talk. See how crews respond when the scope changes. Pay attention to what workers raise on their own and what they hesitate to say.

“I try my best to speak less and observe more.”

That does not mean staying silent. It means speaking with purpose after the observation, checking whether your interpretation matches what workers intended, and giving them room to explain what is really happening.

She uses the same approach in the shop. Sometimes mechanics show her how a task is done. Sometimes they coach her through it. Sometimes they point out where not to stand, what movement will strain a shoulder, or why a written instruction does not quite fit reality.

Those moments matter. They reveal the difference between a procedure that exists and one that is useful.

A Mature Safety Culture Sounds Different

Aboultaif says one of her proudest professional accomplishments has been watching the safety culture mature around her. She also points to a personal milestone, being recognized by the ACSA in 2024 as the National Health and Safety Administrator (NHSA) of the Year, as a meaningful honour.

But when she talks about progress at work, she does not define it through slogans or dashboards alone. She hears how people speak.

For her, safety culture starts to mature when workers naturally repeat concepts the organization has tried to build into daily practice. It shows up when someone references a procedure on their own, or can explain which work instruction applies to a task and why.

“This is exactly what I’m looking for, that people are really digesting the information in a way that they can repeat those topics.”

That is the turning point. Not when the document is published, but when it becomes part of how people think and talk.

“If nobody knows about them, they are useless.”

It is a blunt line, and an important one. Policies and procedures only have value when the workforce understands them, remembers them, and uses them.

Making Stop Work Simple Enough to Use

Many organizations say they support stop work. Far fewer make it simple enough that people actually use it.

Stop work is one of the topics colleagues come to Nancy about most often. Even in organizations that support it in principle, workers can still hesitate at the moment.

Aboultaif says one issue her team uncovered was that some employees thought every stop-work action had to mean shutting everything down immediately. Once they recognized that misunderstanding, they started reframing the concept in more practical terms.

Stop work can be a major escalation, yes. But it can also be a break between team members. It can be one worker stepping back from a machine that does not feel right. It can be someone taking a minute to ask a question, check a manual, or reconsider a task before continuing.

To reinforce that message, they created a simple card: if you are concerned, unsure, or unsafe, just stop it.

That simplicity matters to her. If a safety concept is too complicated to understand in the field, it will not be used when it is needed.

That is a strong editorial test for any safety program. Not whether it sounds smart, but whether a worker can use it under pressure.