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Workplace Safety A SPECIAL INTEREST SECTION BY MEDIAPLANET
FROM TRAGEDY TO TRIUMPH:
Curtis Weber's Inspiring Story as a Workplace Safety Advocate
ROB ELLIS:
How MySafeWork Creates Strong Safety Cultures in Canadian Workplaces
Meet Curtis Weber, a passionate advocate for workplace safety, who shares his inspiring story and the importance of a positive safety culture. Can you tell us about your story?
Curtis Weber Workplace Safety Advocate & Consultant
At the age of just 17, I was working as a construction labourer on the prairies of Saskatchewan. I was weeks away from an opportunity to play Junior Hockey in Western Canada. Instead, on the third day of my first ever job, my life would change forever. As the crew and I were attempting to move a steel beam under an overhead power line with our picker truck, we made contact with the line. I was steadying the beam as three separate cycles of 14,400 volts passed through my body. After being transported to the hospital, my family was told it was unlikely that I would survive the incident. Instead, I would battle through a six-week coma where I would emerge with third and fourth-degree burns covering over 65 per cent of my body and the loss of my right arm and left leg. Over the next five years, I received extensive rehabilitation and underwent nearly 45 surgeries, including 15 reconstructive and plastic surgeries.
What’s the most important takeaway from your story that workers and employers should take with them?
To connect with Curtis, email cweberconsulting @gmail.com.
I tell every organization that I share my story with, that creating a culture where everyone feels encouraged and comfortable with speaking up, sharing ideas and thoughts, or voicing concerns will be the most important component to driving the success of safety at their workplace. Culture needs to be instilled from both the management and worker level. If management truly believes in what it takes to create that positive culture, but we have a workforce that isn’t committed to following its policy, procedures, and processes, the culture and safety fails. Conversely, if we have a workforce actively wanting to engage in safe work practices, but management isn’t necessarily putting the time, resources, and commitment to developing that culture, the system also fails. The commitment to safety really needs to be driven together, but we can only achieve safety excellence if we first have an organizational culture that organically drives everything we do together.
THREADS OF LIFE:
Why Virginia Honours the National Day of Mourning Virginia lost her husband Paul in a tragic workplace accident but finds comfort in supporting others through Threads of Life.
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Virginia & Paul
View Virginia’s video by scanning the QR code or read her story on the Threads of Life blog at threadsoflife.ca/ life-shattered.
aul and Virginia were basically newlyweds. They’d been married in August and now it was January. Paul was still Virginia’s “knight in shining armour.” But on January 6, 2015, her happiness shattered. Paul didn’t come home from work that day. Early the next morning, two police officers knocked on her door to tell her that he had been killed at work. On a calendar filled with anniversary dates and memories, Virginia now marks the National Day of Mourning on April 28th as a day with special meaning. The Day of Mourning is set aside to honour and remember those who have been killed or injured in the workplace. Virginia finds comfort through her involvement in Threads of Life — the Association for Workplace Tragedy Family Support. Threads of Life offers peer support for people affected by work-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths. Virginia met others who were coping with loss, and she felt less alone. Sharing their story is important to Virginia. “This is how I honour Paul and keep his memory alive, by sharing my story,” she says. “If I help even just one family, then Paul’s death won’t be for nothing.”
Mediaplanet chatted with Rob Ellis, Founder and President of MySafeWork, who became an outspoken advocate for health, safety, and wellness in the workplace after the death of his son David. Tell us about how your not-for-profit and charity, MySafeWork, came to be. MySafeWork/Our Youth at Work Association was created in 2000 after the devastating loss of our 18-year-old son David, who lost his life while working in a small local business. David didn’t receive adequate training or orientation and was left alone on the second day of his job. He was pulled into a large industrial mixer that had no safety guards or lockouts. David would have wanted our family to protect the next generation of leaders in Canada. Each year, we speak to more than 100,000 students and adults in our Courageous broadcast on the Day of Mourning. It’s important that our next generation of leaders understand why we pause each year to respect those who have lost their lives in the workplace.
Rob Ellis Founder & President, MySafeWork
What is MySafeWork doing to help Canadian employers create a safer workplace culture? MySafeWork invites corporate, union, and government leaders to meet with audiences of 500 to 2,000 students at high schools, colleges of skilled trades, and university engineering faculties. The audiences engage in open Q&A periods with 40 or 50 corporate leaders. The next generation of leaders is asking very direct and honest questions. There’s a focus on areas such as communication, mental stress, diversity, safety culture, and leadership integrity. The exchange of knowledge is exciting and a life-changing experience for both generations. Business leaders across Canada are now taking this feedback and creating stronger safety cultures. Leaders are seeing the importance of attracting young workers to safe workplace environments.
Learn more at mysafework.com.
ANNE TENNIER:
The Changing Landscape of Workplace Safety in Canada Anne Tennier, President and CEO of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, discusses misconceptions, pressing safety issues, and future plans for workplace safety in Canada. What’s a common misconception people have about occupational health and safety, and how can it be corrected? A misconception is that workplace safety can be time-consuming, costly, or challenging. Smaller-sized organizations may find they don’t have enough time to focus on safely preforming a task, or they may not be aware of what’s needed to work safely. It can be overwhelming, so knowing what organizations are out there that can offer free resources and information, and that are available to them for help, is a critical way to kickstart their health and safety program.
Anne Tennier President & CEO, CCOHS
How do you see the future of occupational health and safety evolving in Canada, and what role do you see the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety playing in this evolution? Occupational health and safety will have to evolve to include climate change, new technologies, mental health, and diversity and inclusion into their plans. And while health and safety systems typically address the physical and psychosocial safety of our workers, we can’t forget about what I like to call the intersection with human rights. You may have well developed safe work practices, but they should be adaptable and communicated so the diverse populations that make up Canadian workplaces can have the information needed to work safely. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety is working hard to ensure we keep abreast of the changing world of work so that our guidance appropriately reflects the needs of changing workplaces.
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Learn more at ccohs.ca.