The inspiring journey of Nada

It is March 11, 2020, and the World Health Organization (WHO) declares the novel coronavirus (COVID-19)?outbreak?a global?pandemic.?Everyone is in shock and stays at home to keep themselves and their families safe. The story is different for Nada who started her new role as corporate head of environment, health, and safety at Siemens Canada 12 days ago. She is now responsible not just for her family’s safety, but for the safety of +2000 employees of Siemens in Canada. It is a major challenge, but she knows that she could overcome it because life has never been a smooth ride and failure has never been an option for her.

“Small or big, does not matter, there is always a way to contribute to making a difference”?

In 2021, Siemens Canada won Canada's Safest Employers Award for Best Environment Health and Safety Program under Nada’s excellent leadership. Yet Nada is too humble to get the credit for this excellent award, she believes it is the result of team effort and dedication. The COVID Task Force with Nada as a team lead also received ?the first ever resilience award from Siemens Canada as a recognition of the hard work they put through to keep employees healthy and safe.

She was just 21 years old when she moved to Canada by herself, with 500$ in her pocket, countless passion in her heart, and priceless drive in her mind. Leaving her family behind and living by herself in a new country with a new language was a big challenge. Working daytime and studying nights were not easy unless you have a vision.

Nada started her career in quality and environment, ?but shortly after entered the health and safety domain because she already had a personal interest in making a difference to the safety of others. Nada enjoys being at job sites, observing what employees are doing and how they are doing, while speaking to them. She feels it helps her to establish strong connections at different levels to?continuously contribute and make a difference.

Despite her passion and hard work, growth in this male-dominated industry was not an easy journey. She took education, professional designation, and ownership to drive a personal passion to add value to the organizational performance, and to the employee and customer experience. With the business evolvements and cultural changes that happened in recent years, we witnessed some positive changes.?Proudly, this year, Nada was recognized by the industry as Top Women in Safety, 2022.

This award is so special; however, it is not the only one.?Here are some of the external recognitions awarded to Nada or Siemens Canada under her leadership.

1. Safest Employer Award for Best Environment, Health and Safety Program, 2021 and Canada’s Greenest Employer award 2022 (Safest Employers and Canada's Top 100).??
2. Leadership Interview with Canadian Occupational Safety - Safety as a number one priority
3. Safety and sustainability as core values