Our Team

Kimberly Meadows

Director/Principal Consultant

With over 25 years of extensive experience in emergency response and safety, Kim is a seasoned professional recognized for her deep knowledge, passion, and unwavering commitment to safety excellence.

Kim began her career as a Rescue Specialist/Diver with the Canadian Coast Guard, where she played a critical role in lifesaving operations and water safety. Her expertise expanded further when she trained as a forensic recovery diver with the RCMP, adding a specialized skill set to her already impressive repertoire. Kim is also a Master Scuba Diver Trainer, having certified divers around the globe.

Throughout her 25 year career, Kim has held a variety of pivotal roles, including Construction Safety Manager, Safety Officer for a municipal government, and Regional Safety Manager for an international transit management company. Her academic credentials include an Occupational Health and Safety Practitioner diploma from the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC). Additionally, she is a certified National Construction Safety Officer (NCSO) and holds the Canadian Registered Safety Professional (CRSP) designation since 2012.

Kim's contributions to the field have been widely recognized. She was honored as one of the 2022 Canadian Top Women in Safety and received the 2021 & 2024 Canadian Top Safety Trainer award. Her outstanding service has also earned her the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering (CSSE) Outstanding Service Award for the BC/Yukon region.

Beyond her professional achievements, Kim is deeply committed to her community. She has volunteered extensively with organizations such as Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue, Victoria Emergency Management Agency, and Health & Safety Professionals Canada (formally Canadian Society of Safety Engineers) Currently, she serves as the Vice President of the Navy League of Canada supporting the Royal Sea Cadet program.

Kim is a strong advocate for fostering a culture of safety through collaboration and empowerment. She believes in the transformative power of investing in people through training and leadership, which she sees as essential to creating safer, healthier, and more productive environments.

At Safety First, we provide practical, sustainable solutions to your everyday operations.
I look forward to working with your team.

"Safety is not something you do... It's how you do something."

- Kim Meadows

Tierra Lavery

Operations Manager & Training Facilitator

Tierra is a dedicated Operations Manager and Training Facilitator at Safety First, bringing over a decade of expertise in HR and operational management to our team. As a Chartered Professional in Human Resources (CPHR), she possesses a profound passion for health and safety, striving to support organizations of all sizes in cultivating safe and thriving workplaces for employees at all levels.

With her extensive experience, Tierra shares invaluable knowledge and insights both within our organization and with our clients, ensuring they are equipped to prioritize safety and compliance. As an accomplished trainer, she leads our Respectful Workplace / Psychological Health & Safety and various compliance workshops, empowering teams to foster a culture of respect and safety.

Originally hailing from Hawaii, Tierra embodies the personable spirit of aloha in all her interactions, bringing warmth and positivity to everything she does. Her commitment to enhancing workplace safety and well-being is evident in her work, making her an essential asset to both Safety First and the clients we serve.

Operations Manager & Training Facilitator Tierra Lavery is a woman with long, brown hair with highlights. She is wearing a blue dress with a floral design, and smiling warmly into the camera.

Candace Wirsch

Safety Advisor

Candace’s story is one of resilience and purpose. With over 20 years in construction, her passion for safety began in traffic control, where she learned how quickly situations can change and how important it is that every worker gets home safely. Becoming a mother deepened that commitment.

After stepping away from the industry to face addiction, she rebuilt her life through recovery and returned to construction in 2021 with renewed clarity. She worked her way back into the field, later pursuing her NCSO designation and joining Safety First Consulting to support multi‑site projects.

Candace now blends her safety expertise with recovery advocacy. Through the Peer Support Recovery Navigator Program and mental health training, she supports workers with empathy and challenges stigma. She shares her story openly to show that recovery and professional growth can go hand in hand—and that safety is ultimately about people.

Simon Miles

Communications Advisor & Instructor

Simon has been with Safety First since the beginning. His years of experience as a volunteer fire fighter and USAR technician combine a technical perspective and practical knowledge to his site training and as an OFA2 and First Responder, we love that he can cover our clients sites for first aida needed. And lucky for us, Simon is also a communications specialist, and applies a personal touch to both our marketing and the branding application of our clients.