2026! This is it! This is the year we get our COR!
Awesome.
Now. Can we be brutally honest about something?
Here in Alberta, we spend a lot of time talking about COR - getting it, keeping it, scoring it, and maintaining it. And don’t get me wrong - there’s a reason we do. COR programs have value. They can incentivize structure, documentation, and consistency.
But here’s the uncomfortable truth that experienced safety professionals already know: A COR audit only tells you what exists. Not whether it actually works, not whether it’s lived, and not whether it reflects who you actually are. It’s a moment in time. A checklist. A photograph. And sometimes, organizations mistake that photograph for the whole story. When the reality, is that:
“COR” Isn’t the Same as “CORE”
A policy can exist and still be ineffective. A procedure can be followed and still be hollow. A system can pass an audit and still fail people. And that’s because real safety doesn’t live on paper. It lives in how decisions are made when no one is watching, whether people feel seen enough to speak up, whether leadership responds to discomfort instead of engaging in defensiveness, and whether values guide decisions even under institutional or external pressure. “COR” won’t tell you any of that. Because that’s not COR. That’s CORE. Your CORE.
The Risk of Mistaking Compliance for Identity
One of the quiet dangers in safety management - and frankly, in leadership more broadly - is assuming that external approval ratings reflect internal strength. Organizations sometimes chase higher audit scores, better-looking binders, or cleaner documentation, all while slowly drifting away from the very principles and people those systems were meant to support. When that happens, people feel it. Morale slips. Trust erodes. And incidents increase. Not because policies are missing, but because meaning is. The simple fact is, that you can’t audit authenticity, and you can’t score integrity. But you can lose both if you stop paying attention.
So if you’re thinking about resolutions this year, here’s a different lens: Instead of asking: “What do we need to add to our system?”, ask “What do we need to return to? Why did we build this program in the first place? What kind of organization did we intend to be? What do our people need in order to feel safe - not just compliant?” Strengthening your CORE doesn’t mean tearing things down. It means reconnecting what you have to the purpose it was meant to serve. Because sometimes the most important work isn’t adding new layers, but remembering, embracing, and nurturing what’s always been there, and already baked in.
NURTURE YOUR CORE: IT’S WHAT MATTERS MOST
Audits expire. Certificates lapse. Standards change. But a strong CORE - whether in an organization or an individual - remains. It’s the steady center that guides your choices, shapes your presence, and quietly holds everything that matters. Real safety, real strength, and real resistance aren’t measured once and forgotten. They live in the care you take, the attention you give, and the quiet constancy of showing up as who you truly are.
Because let’s face it: A COR can show you where you are. But only your CORE tells you who you are. This year, take a moment to reconnect with it.
Notice it. Protect it. And strengthen it. Because in the long run - for safety, for leadership, and for life in general - who you are matters far more than any external label or metric.
Ready to strengthen your CORE? Give us a call at 1-780-720-1586 (Edmonton & Northern Alberta) or 1-403-456-5835 (Calgary & Southern Alberta), and let our experience benefit you.