benjamin rhames

Health Care Aid & Safety Coordinator, Island Health

HCA, member of the DGC, (Directors Guild of Canada), Cert; Entrepreneurial Business, Red Seal, SMWIA, (Sheet Metal Workers International Association), Dip; OHS…currently in the process of furthering OHS education/ credentials.

As a lifelong learner, Benjamin is enthralled with the search for knowledge, the adventure this search brings and the opportunities therein to foster growth and play a positive role within society.

While having grown up on the west coast of British Columbia, Benjamin began his post-secondary life as a yacht rigger with a local firm known as Pacific Spar, (a division of Cooper Yachts), Benjamin’s heart always called out to him and he listened by beginning his career as a Health Care Aide, focusing on working with quadriplegic clients.

As the years passed, Benjamin interspersed his work with people, with his love of the arts and for a time dove fully into the film and television sector in BC. While this was an intriguing career, and with applied effort, Benjamin rose to the rank of A.D, (Assistant Director), his heart kept calling out to him, so he returned to full time work with his clients who were thrown into a life lived as a wheelchair user... (usually by a sudden accident).

This work continued until Benjamin, by now a father, invested a year at college obtaining a certificate in entrepreneurial business practices, followed by a five-year Red Seal Journeyman program, which is a bachelor’s degree equivalent, in sheet metal and ventilation. 

Parts of this work were highly physical and ultimately Benjamin required total hip replacement surgery. 

It was during this process that Benjamin realized how the life he’d lived and adventures he had embarked upon, had led him naturally to a career as an Occupational Health and Safety Professional. With the skills acquired through obtaining this two-year Diploma combined with his lived knowledge, Benjamin was ...and is ... convicted that and committed to, helping health care professionals get home safe, healthy and injury free at the end of the day.

Island Health seemed like the next logical step in Benjamin’s adventure!