North American Occupational Safety and Health Week underway
Posted May 7, 2012 5:33 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
RICHMOND (NEWS1130) – North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week is underway. The annual event was launched today at YVR, which is hosting a health and wellness fair inside the international terminal.
The theme of the event is Safety and Health – A Commitment for Life: Making it Work. The idea behind the safety campaign is to get employers and employees talking, to create a culture of safety and health on the job.
“Safety is everybody’s business” says Tony Rebelo, a safety specialist with the company that runs SkyTrain. “It’s not just the (responsibility of the) safety professionals of the world, right, or your supervisors job. It’s everyone’s business.”
“Have a role in safety” he adds. “If you see something that’s unsafe, report it, or talk to someone about it. Talk to your supervisor.”
WorkSafeBC accepted nearly 104,000 short-term disability, long-term disability, health-care-only, and fatal claims in 2011. At the same time, nearly three million work days were lost because of injuries, illness, or disease.
“Participating in NAOSH Week provides an opportunity for workplaces to demonstrate ongoing commitments to creating a culture of safety and health” says Scott McCloy, WorkSafeBC Director of Community Relations.
“We encourage organizations across the province to take part in activities that can focus attention on preventing injury and illness in the workplace and at home.”
The awareness campaign wraps up on May 12th. A list of some of the organizations participating in NAOSH Week activities can be found here.
