Protect yourself on the job

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With one just one week out of the year officially set aside as occupational health week - a time set aside to really focus on ensuring safe conditions in the workplace - the message from those who work at promoting safe work practices is that the same attention to safety concerns should be applied year round.

"Safety is an important concern every day of every week, not just this special week," said Bill Johnson of the Saskatchewan Construction Safety Association. "But we try to put on these events that will increase the awareness and keep safety on everyone's minds throughout the year."

There are nine safety associations in the province. They are all funded and monitored by the Workers' Compensation Board. As well as Johnson's organization, there are similar groups which promotes safety in the heavy construction industry, the meat packing industry, the hospitality industry and others.

Residents of Regina can attend a demonstration of rescue techniques at Fire Station No. 2's training tower on May 18. The day's program - called Are You Ready? - is designed to remind workers that there are risks in the construction industry and workers can't ever completely relax.

"We just want to visually remind the construction industry that accidents do happen," Johnson said.

Similar events are planned for Saskatoon, Yorkton, Moose Jaw and Lloydminister.

With more and more Aboriginal people finding work in the province's industries, and with more and more First Nations creating their own businesses or initiating their own construction projects, Johnson said he has been working closely with the Regina-based Construction Career Development Project (CCDP).

CCDP specializes in finding jobs for Native workers in the construction trades. Noting that the construction industry has been experiencing strong growth and a resultant shortage of skilled trades people even while there continues to be a high level of unemployment in First Nations communities, CCDP strives to help Native workers acquire skills that will allow them to gain long-term employment in the field.

Part of the training that helps First Nations workers to prepare for their careers is provided by the construction safety association, Johnson said. The training is especially important to inexperienced workers.

"All the statistics show that most injuries happen to new employees. People who are most at risk are those in their first six months to a year on the job," Johnson said. "Many of these types of accidents are the result of a lack of awareness of the hazards in the workplace."

The construction industry has a reputation for being high-pressure and deadline oriented. Workers are expected to perform no matter what.

At one time it was standard practice to take shortcuts in order to meet completion dates. But Johnson said the industry is starting to see that some risks that are commonly taken to avoid incurring the extra expense of penalty clauses in contracts expose workers to injury and that just doesn't make financial sense in the long run.

"The owners are realizing there are hidden costs to work-related injuries. It's not just the compensation fees. There are the delays and the negative effect on morale. Productivity always goes down for at least a few days when a worker is hurt on the job. The other workers are affected," he said.

So Native workers who are getting help to enter the workplace are entering a world where the emphasis on safety is increasing. And since new employees are most at risk, it's important that new workers realize that they don't have to risk their lives and limbs to keep a well-paying job.