Manitoba NAOSH Week

2014

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C M Y K WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, MAY 1, 2014 winnipegfreepress.com 2 G etting a grip on slips and trips is one of the main focuses for the City of Brandon during North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week. Brandon's occupational safety and health coordinator Greg Brown says all city departments will recommit to a multi-year campaign called Mission Zero: Together We Can Achieve Safety Excellence. Launched in the summer of 2012, the goal of Mission Zero is to reduce the frequency and severity of lost-time injuries. "We fall into the same main type of injuries that almost all organizations do — the sprains and strains, the slips and falls. Those are our main contributing factors to injuries," Brown says. "It's your routine, everyday things that we become complacent with. If you look at the WCB stats annually, the slips and falls and over-exertion are the two most common lost-time injuries." The campaign earned the city a 2012 NAOSH Week Award as an industry leader. And in keeping with the 2014 NAOSH theme, the city makes safety a habit. Twice each year, it focuses on safe walking and safe lifting to reduce back injuries. Slippery streets and parking lots are common sites for falls, and since municipal employees work on every street in the city, they have to be aware of potential dangers. In the early spring, seasonal staff get busy filling flower planters, so they're cautioned about safe lifting and bending. In 2012 and 2013, the city partnered with Brandon & Area Safe Communities to host a street hockey tournament. Last year, it joined forces with SAFE Work Manitoba, Workers Compensation Board and Brandon & Area Safe Communities to host the city's first official NAOSH Week launch and flag-raising ceremony. The rest of the week was devoted to fire drills, emergency exercises, quizzes and emergency response plans, since NAOSH Week coincides with Emergency Preparedness Week. The 2014 NAOSH Week kick- off ceremony will be held in the main foyer at City Hall on May 5 at 1:30 p.m. Brown says it will include presentations from SAFE Work Manitoba, the Workplace Safety and Health Division and Brandon & Area Safe Communities, but all other events this year are internal. When Mission Zero was launched, department heads signed and posted a Safety Leadership Charter in their areas, and they'll recommit to the charter during NAOSH Week. Daily safety messages will be sent to all employees and there's a week-long slate of safety and health training sessions. Put safety on your agenda and attend one or more of these public events during NAOSH Week Sunday, May 4 Steps for Life Walk: Kildonan Park. Registration starts at 10 a.m. Walk starts at 11 a.m. Hosted by Threads for Life Monday, May 5 Manitoba NAOSH launch: MTS Centre, main level concourse, 9 a.m. Hosted by Canadian Society of Safety Engineering (CSSE) Manitoba Brandon Launch: Brandon City Hall, 1:30 p.m. Hosted by the City of Brandon Thursday, May 8 Bingo Bowl: Polo Park Bowling Centre, Polo Park Shopping Centre, 6:30 p.m. Hosted by SAFE Workers of Tomorrow Post events and check for updates at www.naosh.org. 2013 Street hockey tournament winners. Brandon city manager Scott Hildebrand (left) and Greg Brown with the 2012 NAOSH Award. DON't Slip Up Presiding over Brandon's NAOSH flag-raising in 2013 were (from left) Barry Cowan, regional manager of Workplace Safety and Health Division; Greg Brown, City of Brandon occupational safety and health coordinator; Brandon Mayor Shari Decter Hirst and Dan Robertson, regional director of the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba. Brandon's Mission Zero takes aim at sprains and strains MArk yOUr CAleNDAr Formoreinformationonpreventinginjuriesvisit safemanitoba.com PREVENTABLE WorkplaceInjuriesAre SAFETYSAVES It'saManitobathing & MANITOBA CHAPTER CONFERENCE&TRADESHOW OCT27-28,2014|CANADINNS POLOPARK,WINNIPEG SAVETHEDATE! ipam-manitoba.com/conference-2

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