The Staff

Luis Santos

Luis Santos was born and raised in the Okanagan. Once he graduated from high school in Osoyoos he moved to Vancouver to continue his education. Luis graduated with a computer science degree and soon gained employment with a local computer manufacturing company. Luis started with the company as computer technician but due to his great work ethic he quickly climbed the corporate ladder until he was ultimately GM for this large company. Once Luis and his wife started having kids he realized the long hours and traveling were not conducive to raising a family and being the hands on dad he wanted to be. He decided it was time for a career change which eventually brought him back to the Okanagan and to Canada Safety. Luis always tells people how much he enjoys his job and his customers. When his customers are asked what they like best about Luis, they say he is honest, friendly, a wealth of knowledge and always gets the job done with a smile.

Di (Diana) Santos

Diana was born and raised in Richmond, B.C. She has had a variety of jobs from driving a loader at a local golf course when she was only 12 to becoming a booking agent and instructor at a modeling and acting agency in Vancouver. Diana met and married her husband Luis in Vancouver. After the birth of their second son they decided it was time to move to the Okanagan, to slow down and enjoy the good things in life. Soon after along came son number three, so much for slowing down! With three young boys who all play hockey there is little down time left for this busy mom. When she has a chance she loves to cook, work out, run, spend time outdoors and at the lake as well as entertain friends and family at their home. Diana is an Inside Sales Consultant as well as a certified respiratory tester and has also completed courses in confined space, gas detection and fall protection.
When asked what her favorite thing is about her job here response is “my customers, they are not just customers they are friends and I love to see who is going to walk through the door on any given day”.

Stephen Rooney

Steve was born in Vancouver, B.C. After taking several years of post secondary education at the Memramcook Institute and Memorial University, achieving qualification in adult education as well as a BA & Bed degrees. Steve moved back out west with a wealth of knowledge. He has had a career that includes a background in education, safety and industrial sales since coming back to B.C. He has continued his education with training as a Qualified Safety Supervisor, several courses in respiratory, confined space, gas detection and fall protection. He has been with Canada Safety Equipment for over 12 years and now heads up the safety training division offered at the company headquarters.

Cliff Gregory

Born in Aberdare, Wales, UK and immigrated to Canada.
Took his secondary education at a bilingual boarding school, Feller College in St Jean ,QC. Did his apprenticeship in mechanical engineering at Domtar Howard Smith and then began his career in industrial sales.
Worked for Canadian Carborudum as territory manager in Montreal and two years later transferred to the maritimes living in Moncton, NB and covered all four provinces .He was lured out west by Norton Abrasives and resided in Edmonton, AB, working as territory manager covering Alberta and Saskatchewan.
He settled down from all the travelling and with his wife owned and operated a B&B, a Fine Dining restaurant and a maintenance company.
Getting back into industrial sales he became a National Accounts Co-ordinator with Century Vallen at their HO in Edmonton and after four years was transferred to Kelowna. Upon the closure of all Century Vallen branches in BC, he joined Canada Safety.
A highly motivated sales associate with extensive customer service and sales experience.

Dan Dunton

Dan was born in Brampton, Ontario and grew up on a Dairy farm. After completing High school he sought out for a real paying job, one that would eventually take him far away from the family farm.
His elder’s said “you can take the boy off the farm, but you cannot take the farm off the boy” Many years later, Dan would agree with this quote. Securing a job in the Manufacturing Industry was a step towards many hours of Post Secondary Education. Most of his working days were spent monitoring inventory levels, production scheduling, purchasing, shipping, receiving, basic accounting and just about anything where his help was needed. Dan moved to BC in 1997 and joined Canada Safety Equipment in 2008. In his first 5 years with CSE he has been part of many changes with the company, and he looks forward to many more years of positive growth. He thrives on being organized, accurate, and making things happen ASAP. This skill set helps Dan complete his tasks of purchasing, receiving, shipping, and helping out where ever he can. Dan would say “Canada Safety is the best company I have ever worked for”

Thomas Barrow

Tom is originally from the Lower Mainland of B.C. After graduating from Secondary School, he completed two years at the University of the Fraser Valley. He moved to the Central Okanagan in the summer of 2004, and has been enjoying it ever since. Tom and his wife concentrate on raising their two young, smart and energetic children. As an avid outdoor enthusiast, Tom’s main passion is fishing, which he considers to be the perfect balance between work and play. Before joining Canada Safety, Tom worked in the construction and building supply industry. During this time, Tom developed many strong skills which help him when taking care of customers. Tom’s main focus at work is to do his job to the best of his ability but have fun while doing it. “The most important thing to me is taking care of each customer and making sure I do my part so they have the right product and information for their particular needs”.

Wayne Bruce

Wayne Bruce was born in Prince Albert, Saskachewan and moved several times throughout childhood until the family found a small grocery store in Valemount, B.C. It was here that shaped the memories and young adult education of Wayne to develop under the guidance of his parents to become a husband, parent and small businessman himself. In this small community he spent his time helping in the family business and eventually running his own small business. As well he spent much time as an ambulance volunteer, Lions club member and snowmobile club volunteer. Wayne & his wife Diana came to Kelowna in 2001 to run Canada Safety Equipment which lasted for 11 years and the decision was made to hand over the business to the present owners who were employees of the company. Wayne continues to contribute to the company through his knowledge and training in BW Gas Detection equipment, respiratory training, fall protection, confined space training and years of first aid and emergency extrication training with the BC ambulance service.

Bob Gagno

Bob was born and raised in Richmond, B.C. Bob worked and managed Rich Van Holdings from his late teens until he took early retirement in 2003. Bob and his wife Jacquie moved to Kelowna in 2003 after building their dream home on the lake in Lake Country. Looking after grandkids and his woodworking hobbies were just not enough to keep this work horse happy. When his daughter and son in law purchased Canada Safety they knew there was one guy they could count on to get the job done! So his daughter batted her eyelashes and the rest is history. Bob works for the company part time and still has enough spare time to enjoy the finer things in life.