Volunteer Profile: Elom Adekahlor

A woman stands beside a screen with a slide displayed beside her. The slide reads "Threads of Life: Helping to Health Families of Workplace Tragedy" — As a Community Engagement Volunteer, Elom works to raise awareness of Threads of Life in her community

By Elaine Mew, Volunteer Coordinator

From a career as an HR professional in Ghana to specializing in Occupational Health and Safety in Canada, the journey for Elom Adekahlor has been one fueled by passion. As a strategic HR professional, she is on a mission to spread the importance of workplace safety.

Upon arriving in Canada in 2023 to study Occupational Health and Safety, she immediately began networking, which is how she learned about Threads of Life. Being an ambitious person, she knew she had some work to do if she wanted to succeed here in Canada. With LinkedIn as her platform of choice, she began connecting with others in the Occupational Health and Safety space and fortuitously connected with Lee-Anne Lyon-Bartley of Dexterra Group, who is also a volunteer and supporter of Threads of Life. Not only did Lee-Anne encourage her to volunteer, but through this connection, Elom was also introduced to Threads of Life and Women in Occupational Health and Safety (WOHSS).

Elom started volunteering in December 2023 as a Steps for Life Planning Committee member in Sarnia and was the Registration Lead for Sarnia’s Steps of Life walk in 2024. She continued in the same role for the 2025 season. She was asked to consider becoming a Community Engagement Volunteer in July 2024, and she accepted. In this role, she raises awareness of Threads of Life offerings in her community, sharing information on various social media platforms and facilitating information sessions with peers, an opportunity she found very fulfilling.

Aside from her advocacy for workplace safety, she ensures that Threads of Life print materials reach a wide audience. From engaging in spaces that support injured workers and their families to collaborating with individuals whose roles connect them with different communities, Elom is committed to sharing the mission of Threads of Life and championing health and safety. Her firm belief is that you do not have to be personally impacted by a workplace tragedy to be passionate about this cause and want to be an agent of change in the world.

A volunteering highlight for Elom was presenting to Occupational Health and Safety students, many of whom were unaware of Threads of Life. She values opportunities like this to raise awareness of the organization’s resources, believing it is vital for everyone, especially health and safety professionals, to know about the support Threads of Life provides, as you never knowwhen someone may need it. With this mission in mind, she carries Threads of Life pamphlets and brochures and shares them with her community, friends and even Uber drivers! One never knows when this information might make a difference.

Elom’s dedication to promoting workplace health and safety goes beyond her involvement with Threads of Life. As a volunteer with Workplace Safety and Prevention Services (WSPS), she delivers health and safety awareness training to vulnerable groups such as new and young workers. In addition to her health and safety promotion, Elom is engaged in her community volunteering in various capacities and has also served as president of both Riverspeak Toastmasters Club and the International Women’s Club, Lambton College. Her motivation is simple yet powerful: to ensure people know where to find free support when they need it most.

Thank you, Elom, for the passion you bring to spreading not just information about Threads of Life, but also health and safety in general so that everyone makes it home from work safely.