Finning Saskatchewan is expanding its health and safety focus to families of employees, especially their children, in a new off the job injury prevention initiative.
Safety on the job is a top priority at Finning – the Regina branch recently celebrated a one-year milestone of being injury free – and its off the job injury prevention committee would like that approach applied at home as well.
One way to include children and families in this new initiative had children of Finning Saskatchewan staff participate in a colouring contest, with important household safety tips and reminders on each page of the colouring book.
The Off the Job Injury Prevention committee at Finning’s Regina branch, led by Jared Bundus and Lindsay Spinks, reviewed Safe Saskatchewan safety content and aligned it to encourage children involvement. Fire and water safety, family safety plans, and miscellaneous home safety tips were all included in the colouring books.
“It’s important for kids of all ages to learn about this. I think everyone should be taught this,” said Ellery Nelson, who was one of three winners in the colouring contest.
“It’s so important to know this stuff because you can be aware of things that could be a potential danger in the house,” she said. “Everybody makes mistakes or overlooks things… so if kids know about safety then they can remind their parents.”
Ellery finds herself turning pot handles inward when they’re on the stove top, or moving potentially hazardous household chemicals to safe storage. Her conscious approach to safety, according to Safe Saskatchewan CEO Gord Moker, will serve Ellery well in the future.
He said taking action to prevent injuries, whether at a work site or at home, is an attractive quality that employers look for.
“Leaders of today, more and more, are valuing the health and safety of their employees and their families and not drawing a line between workplace health and safety and injury prevention health and safety at home,” he said.
The colouring contest was the second planned event from Finning’s Off The Job Injury Prevention Strategy, a pilot project the company adopted earlier in the year. The strategy aims to support a safe and healthy lifestyle for all employees at home and in their communities, all the while maintaining its focus on a safe environment on the job.
“How to we keep the momentum going? I would like to see our off the job safety committee have family members of staff on board to guide us on moving forward,” said Tony DeSousa, vice-president for Finning Saskatchewan.
Ellery was one of 62 children of various ages across six Finning Saskatchewan branches who submitted an entry for the contest. Close to 190 colouring books were taken home by employees.
Prizes were awarded to three winners. The first-place prize was a pizza gift card and hotel room rental for pool and waterslide use. Second place was a Chuck E. Cheese gift card.
Ellery won a $100 movie gift card. All three winning submissions will be framed and placed on a wall inside the Finning Regina branch.
“It’s awesome to get such a great prize, but it’s definitely not the only reason why (I participated in the colouring contest),” she said. “I’m conscious of all of the potential dangers around the house and I think it’s so important to learn even more.”
