Health & Safety Ontario (HSO) has appointed Grey Canada its agency of record following a review that began earlier this year.
Full details of the review were not disclosed, although Grey is said to have beat out three other shortlisted agencies – drawn from an initial pool of 10 – for the assignment.
Jocelyn Renaud, managing director for Grey Canada in Toronto, said the agency is still being briefed by HSO, but that the organization has indicated a desire to go to market “as soon as possible.” Grey’s short-term priority, said Renaud, is raising awareness of the organization.
The marketing strategy, she said, will incorporate everything from mass media to digital and PR. “They’ll be no media we will not explore if we feel it’s the right one to get the message across,” said Renaud.
HSO is the result of a reorganization of 12 independent health and safety associations that were formerly arranged by geographic region and industry (construction, mining etc.). It is made of four separate sub-brands: Infrastructure Health & Safety Association; Public Services Health & Safety Association, Workplace Safety North and Workplace Safety & Prevention Services.
“I think the client will be an interesting one,” said Renaud. “It’s a complex assignment [since] we have, in essence, four clients, because each of the four associations have their own constituencies they want to make sure are represented and reflected.
“We’re excited by the unique challenges in terms of the cross-section of people we need to reach and the multiple mediums we can use to do that.”
The organization’s mandate is to provide health and safety information, products, programs and services for workplaces throughout the province. According to HSO statistics, more than 500 workplace-related accidents and six deaths occur each week in Ontario workplaces.
The organization has created an ambitious mandate to eliminate workplace mishaps, known as “The Road to Zero.” The HSO has identified four primary causes behind injuries and fatalities: strains and sprains; contact with machinery; motor vehicle incidents and slips and falls.
GCI Group (PR) and MEC (media) are the other agency partners on the assignment.
