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WorkSafeBC congratulates Northern B.C. winner in safety
Prince George, B.C., January 17, 2008 The City of Prince George is the 2008 recipient of a Workplace Health and Safety Innovation Award for helping reduce injuries to workers using weed trimmers. This is the second year in a row the city has won the innovation award, presented today at the Northern B.C. Business & Technology Awards dinner at the Prince George Civic Centre.
We sponsor this category of the awards to recognize a new way of doing something that helps to improve health and safety at worksites in Northern British Columbia, said Don Nelson, WorkSafeBC Manager for Industry and Labour Services. The award recognizes all types of safety innovations, no matter how modest, that can improve health and safety at work.
The Parks Department of the City of Prince George implemented measures to help reduce vibration injuries to workers using weed trimmers on grass edges. The changes included adding anti-vibration harnesses to reduce arm strains, and anti-vibration gloves for trimming grass. Other controls included rotating jobs, and spraying grass borders with vinegar to stunt the growth of grass, making trimming less frequent.
The changes were implemented last year and, where injuries from vibration had previously plagued the department in the past causing long-term injuries and staff shortages, there were no reported injuries in 2007.
Nominees for an award must be current residents of Northern B.C. for a minimum of one year, and specific criteria are established for each category of the awards. Entries are submitted to a nominating committee, independent of award sponsors, who ensure award criteria are met. A separate selection committee chooses the recipient from nominees that meet the criteria.
Health and safety award innovations can include things like the management of workplace impairment issues, planning for safety at the design stages of projects, innovative tools, and other programs, such as return-to-work, or techniques that help prevent workplace incidents, injuries, and illness.
Serving 2.2 million workers and about 190,000 employers, WorkSafeBC is a provincial statutory agency governed by a Board of Directors and funded by employers, which was born out of a compromise between B.C.'s workers and employers in 1917, where workers gave up the right to sue their employers or fellow workers for injuries on the job in return for a no-fault insurance program fully paid for by employers. WorkSafeBC is committed to a safe and healthy workplace, and to providing return-to-work rehabilitation, and legislated compensation benefits to workers injured as a result of their employment.
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For more information, contact: |
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| Gladys Johnsen Prevention Public Affairs Manager WorkSafeBC 604 214-5441 Cell: 604 908-0876 |
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