LP-Naosh Week_May 2

B4

T h u r s d a y, M a y 2 , 2 0 1 9

regina Leader-PosT

SAFETY & HEALTH WEEK 2019 Make Safety a Habit: People, Passion & Prevention

BY JONATHAN HAMELIN

To create safer workplace environments, organizers of the 2019 Safety and Health Week are encouraging people to strive for the perfect trifecta.

Safety and Health Week (previously known as North American Occupational Safety & Health Week or NAOSH Week) is held annually to focus on the importance of workplace health and safety and engage people in events and activities that raise that awareness.

Safety and Health Week runs from May 5-11 this year and the theme is “Make Safety a Habit: People, Passion & Prevention”.

According to Saskatchewan Safety and Health Week coordinator Andrea Crittenden, all three of these elements are crucial aspects of workplace safety.

“It all starts with the people who are the safety professionals, working on the job sites or in the workplace; they need to be passionate about everyone’s health and safety in the workplace and ensure the right policies are in place,” Crittenden said. “Raising

Paul Krismer is one of the top motivational speakers in Canada and the author of ‘Whole Person Happiness: How to be Well in Body, Mind and Spirit.” Krismer is the keynote speaker at this year’s Safety & Health Week luncheons in Saskatoon and Regina. (Supplied photo) awareness about workplace safety is an important way to prevent accidents from occurring.

“It’s sort of a triangle effect where if one of these elements fails, a negative situation is likely

to occur.”

Safety and Health Week begins on Sunday with Steps for Life, a five kilometre fundraising walk that educates the community about the devastating ripple effects of every workplace tragedy, while focusing on ways to work together to prevent future workplace accidents.

Walks are taking place in Regina (10 a.m., Lakeshore Park Totem Pole, Wascana Park) and Saskatoon (noon, Diefenbaker Centre, University of Saskatchewan). There is a registration fee of $15 for people ages 14-and-older and you can sign up online at www.stepsforlife.ca.

Safety and Health Week luncheons will be held in Regina on Monday (Queensbury Convention Centre, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.) and Saskatoon on Tuesday (Prairieland Park World Trade Centre, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.). The luncheons are organized by the provincial chapters of the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering, along with provincial partners such as the Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board, the Saskatchewan Safety Council and the Government of Saskatchewan.

The guest speaker at the lun-

cheons is Paul Krismer, a safety professional who has led groups of more than 200 professional disability management staff. He has served as a consultant to high risk and high claims volume employers and industries, introducing innovative and powerful interventions.

To learn more about Krismer, visit paulkrismer.com.

Krismer said that his presentation asks, “What does it really mean to be a leader?”

“Safety is much more than showing people what to do; it’s 95 per cent about winning hearts and minds so that workers volunteer themselves to safety. Then good outcomes come easily,” Krismer said. “Safety supervisors would be fired if they didn’t do the work in their job descriptions, but that is the minimum. Real leadership transcends a job description. It’s a way of being. And this way of being is a learnable skill.”

The luncheons will also feature a special screening of the awardwinning student videos in WorkSafe Saskatchewan’s 2019 Youth Video Contest. Students were asked to create a two-minute video

to demonstrate workplace safety, health and injury prevention in an engaging way. Cash prizes were awarded to the top three individuals and schools.

Luncheon tickets are $40 per person and can be purchased online for the Regina event (https:// csse.org/site/chapters/south-saskatchewan/events) and Saskatoon event (https://csse.org/site/ chapters/northern-light/events).

For groups of 10 or more, email naosh@cssesouthsask.org for a group invoice.

Crittenden said the ultimate goal of Safety and Health Week events is to shift trends when it comes to workplace injuries.

“For me, there are too many people who are being hurt or, even worse, killed on the job site,” she said. “Even though it’s 2019 and regulations and protective equipment have changed tenfold, there are still way too many incidents that are happening on sites and in the workplace. Just being able to spread awareness, whether it’s giving tools to safety professionals or just information to employers or workers, is super important.”

Steps for Life highlights impact of workplace tragedies

BY JONATHAN HAMELIN

When Bob Ocrane suffered a 20-foot fall in the workplace, the accident took a toll on his entire family.

The accident occurred in 1997 when Ocrane was working in a processing facility in small town Saskatchewan. He suffered an open femur fracture, split pelvis and smashed head. The only thing that saved his life was a full-face respirator.

“There weren’t proper safety measures in place,” Ocrane said. “Workplace safety wasn’t really a big cultural item in the small towns back then.”

Ocrane was not the only

one to suffer trauma from the event. The accident caused his family a lot of emotional distress.

“My wife didn’t know if I was going to be able to walk again or be the breadwinner for the family,” Ocrane said.

“My children were 12, 14 and 16 at the time, just at that age when they needed their dad around.”

This story is a key factor that motivates Ocrane to walk each year in Steps for Life, a national event that takes place during Safety and Health Week (NAOSH Week). The five kilometre fundraising walk was founded in 2004 to educate the

community about the devastating ripple effects of every workplace tragedy, while focusing on ways to work together to prevent future workplace accidents.

This year, walks are planned in more than 30 communities across Canada, including Regina and Saskatoon. Both Saskatchewan events take place on Sunday, May 5. Regina’s walk begins at 10 a.m. at the Lakeshore Park Totem Pole in Wascana Park. The event in Saskatoon starts at noon at the University of Saskatchewan’s Diefenbaker Centre.

“I was working in Saskatoon in the safety industry

when I first came across this event,” Ocrane said. “I thought it was a great idea to raise awareness of safety and help give back to something that I believe in.”

Steps for Life is the flagship fundraiser for the Association for Workplace Tragedy Family Support (known as Threads of Life), a national charitable organization dedicated to helping families to heal after they’ve been affected by a traumatic workplace fatality, life-altering workplace injury or occupational disease.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

The Steps for Life walk raises funds to help families heal after being affected by a workplace fatality, injury or occupational disease. Steps for Life happens May 5 in both Saskatoon and Regina. (Supplied photo)

THIS SECTION WAS CREATED BY CONTENT WORKS, POSTMEDIA’S COMMERCIAL CONTENT DIVISION.

The addictions crisis is here.

“ON THE FR ONTLINES” – A N EW DOCUMENTARY

“

Working as an emergency registered nurse, I see up to 4 overdoses on some weekends.

- Ally, ER Registered Nurse, Saskatoon

WATCH:

MAKING THE DIFFERENCE.CA/ADDICTIONS

”

T h u r s d a y, M a y 2 , 2 0 1 9

regina Leader-PosT

B5

SAFETY & HEALTH WEEK 2019 Youth video contest focuses on safety

BY PAT REDIGER

Saskatchewan students have been getting behind the camera lately, with a focus on lights, camera and safety.

Through WorkSafe Saskatchewan’s 2019 Youth Video Contest, students in Grade 9-12 were invited to create a two-minute video to demonstrate workplace safety and health and injury prevention in an engaging way.

This year’s theme was “Focus on Safety”.

“Every year in Saskatchewan, 4,000 people under the age of 25 are injured on the job and an average of three youth die from a workplace incident,” said Tennille Corbett, manager of prevention services with the Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB). “The intent of the Youth Video Contest is to

educate youth about safety in the workplace through the making of a video.”

WorkSafe initially hosted the Youth Video Contest in 2010 to help students learn more about workplace safety and give them a way to show their fellow students, parents and employers what they have learned.

Students can enter the contest individually or as a team. Fittingly, the personal safety of the video makers, including cast and crew, is one of the top priorities. Students are instructed to maintain safety at all times, following applicable health and safety policies and regulations, if on a worksite.

Corbett said the contest organizers got creative in drumming up interest among students.

“We tailored our promo-

tional strategy to directly target teachers and encouraged them to use the video contest as part of their class projects. This was accomplished by sending targeted emails to school boards in the province for promotion in their communication channels to teachers,” Corbett said.

“Posters and letters were also mailed to over 360 schools across the province, and a number of schools received personal visits by WCB’s Prevention Department. Social media posts aimed at teachers also announced the contest and drew attention to the entry deadline.”

The contest videos are judged on numerous factors including creativity, persuasiveness and impact, overall presentation of workplace information and technical

The WorkSafe Saskatchewan 2019 Youth Video Contest invited high school students to create videos that demonstrated the importance of workplace safety and health. Contest winners will have their videos screened at the Safety and Health Luncheons taking place May 6 in Regina and May 7 in Saskatoon (Supplied photo)

quality. The individual or team that produces the winning video wins $1,000 (plus $1,500 for their school), while second-place gets $750 (plus $1,000 for their school) and

third-place gets $500 (plus $750 for the school).

A new feature was added to the contest this year: all eligible videos will be entered into a random draw and one

school will win a pizza party for all of its students who submitted videos.

Contest winners will have their videos screened during the Safety and Health Week Luncheons in Regina on Monday, May 6 (Queensbury Convention Centre, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.) and Saskatoon on Tuesday, May 7 (Prairieland Park World Trade Centre, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.).

The first-place video will also be forwarded onto the national competition hosted by the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS). The firstplace video at the CCOHS finals will be awarded $2,000, while second place will receive $1,500 and third place will take home $1,000. Each winning school receives a matching prize.

Service Hospitality rebrands with a view to the future

BY ANDREW LIVINGSTONE

On March 27, the Service and Hospitality Safety Association of Saskatchewan rebranded itself as Service Hospitality, a shorter name that will simplify communications in the future and shift the focus onto the organization’s clients.

“Surprisingly enough, the name Service and Hospitality Safety Association of Saskatchewan Incorporated doesn’t roll off the tongue,” said George Marshall, the organization’s CEO. “We realized maybe we don’t have to be as descriptive, and maybe we should find a very simple formula for naming ourselves … We named ourselves, essentially, after our customers, and our customers are about the community services industry and the hospitality sector.”

Marshall said that Service Hospitality’s clients have welcomed the change.

“It’s wonderful,” he said. “I

Last year, Service Hospitality’s safety training classes and presentations reached an audience of 46,000. Service Hospitality team members include (from left to right) Cheryl Campbell, Dara Miazyk, Danielle Bachart, George Marshall, Alison Wall, Bay Stenz, Keri Rieger and Laura Bence. (Supplied photo)

think there’s a gratefulness from our customer base and from our stakeholders and partners.”

The rebranding is one of many improvements that the non-profit has made over its 22-year history. “The 4,100 businesses of the service industry and the hospitality sector came together, formed this organization, and they ultimately governed this organization with the support

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

Threads of Life currently supports more than 2,800 family members from across the country, providing them with one-on-one peer support, links to community resources and opportunities to promote workplace injury prevention.

Steps for Life events across Canada drew over 5,000 walkers in 2018, raising more than $750,000 for Threads of Life.

“Each workplace tragedy im-

of WorkSafe Saskatchewan,” said Marshall. “For the first 15 years of our existence, we tried to figure out the best way we could serve our employer base and the best products we can develop, but I’m proud to say we’ve hit our stride in the last eight or nine years or so.

“We’ve grown from an organization that used to deliver training and presentations to about 800 people a year to one

pacts so many people – families, friends, co-workers,” said Lynn Danbrook, Western Canada development coordinator for Threads of Life. “Their lives are forever changed in an instant.”

Ocrane said that Steps for Life has made significant strides since he first got involved. The event began as just a barbecue but has evolved into a walk and social networking event.

“When we first thought about starting a walk we had no planning committee in place. Now

that, last year, reached an audience of about 46,000. So, it’s been phenomenal. The industry has risen to the occasion, and it’s led to great results, and because of that – because of the work that the industry has done and that we’ve done with them – compared to 10 years ago, there’s about 800 less injuries per year.”

Although that reduction pleases Marshall, Service Hospitality is dedicated to eliminating workplace injuries entirely. “We have health and safety certification programs that help employers get to the point where they comply with legislation – and then exceed legislation requirements so that they’re truly a successful environment,” he said. “We envision this world of injury-free workplaces – healthy and safe workplaces that are successful at what they’re trying to do, and that are prospering in their business.”

That vision of an injuryfree workplace of the future

we have a strong committee,” Ocrane said. “This year we’re expecting 150 to 160 people out.

We’ve built it, we’ve grown it.”

Ocrane said one of the big supporters of the event has been MLA Don Morgan. One of the positions Morgan holds with the Government of Saskatchewan is Minister of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety.

“Every year, Minister Morgan comes out to talk and brings greetings from the Government

is what makes Service Hospitality’s outreach programs to elementary and high schools so relevant. “We sponsor a day called Youth Safety Education Day, where we’re working with the future workers in Saskatchewan and trying to give them a healthy and safe mindset when they come into the industry,” said Marshall. “Every year, 30,000 kids participate and 200 different organizations partner with us. We’re proud of our partnership with WorkSafe Saskatchewan that helps us deliver on that, so that’s something that we’re extremely proud of. In our industries, young worker injuries are going down three times faster than any other demographic, so there’s already been a big return.”

In all demographics, Marshall said that substance abuse remains a developing concern for Service Hospitality, “not just the changes in cannabis legislation, but the impact of drugs and alcohol

of Saskatchewan,” Ocrane said.

“He also talks to people about

on the service sector.”

Service Hospitality is also very proud of its partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association to address the growing importance of mental health in the workplace. “There was a legislation change a couple of years ago with Workers’ Compensation where psychological health and safety really became a compensable injury, and, as a result, it’s a huge deal in the workplace health and safety side,” said Marshall. “We have a best practice group of 100 organizations across every industry in Saskatchewan, with which we’re working to improve their psychological health and safety and develop best practice resources and tools that any organization in Saskatchewan can use.

“This is something that we’re doing which, I think, is on the leading edge not just in Saskatchewan, but in Canada.”

workplace incidents. He is a real promoter of this walk.”

EYESAFE

The Prescription Safety Eyewear Program

ENROLL TODAY www.eyesafesk.ca 306.652.2069 1.877.660.3937

THYSSEN MINING’S PRIMARY OBJECTIVE IS TO PROVIDE THE SAFEST MINING ENVIRONMENT AND WELL-MANAGED WORKPLACES FOR OUR EMPLOYEES.

306 .949.6 606

|

w w w.thyssenmini ng.com