Safety Gets Coverage in the Media!

So yesterday I had the opportunity to join the CEO and President of the Industrial Accident Prevention Association (IAPA), Maureen Shaw, the chair of Workplace Safety Insurance Board (WSIB) of Ontario, Steve Mahoney, the Deputy Ontario Minister of Labour, Virginia West,  the Vice President of Operations – Canada, Steelcase, Gene Lai,  and an intern at IAPA, Sarah Wheelan, for the IAPA's young worker safety awareness campaign.

This was a great event to be a part of for a number of reasons: 

#1 - The event was held at Steelcase, which is a top-notch company when it comes to the health and safety of its employees. (Steelcase just won the IAPA President's Award for the second year in a row).

It was evident when I walked into Steelcase that this is a company serious about the culture and environment it was creating. The employee lunchroom was like none other I have seen - I almost felt as if I had walked into Walt Disney World in Markham, it had so many user-friendly, positive features!

The atmosphere spoke volumes about the level of respect that the company offers its employees, and as a colleague of mine pointed out, "it's no wonder this is a prosperous company."

#2 - The speakers told the truth. I loved what each of the speakers had to say today. This was not just a politic pat-ourselves-on-the-back kind of event - rather, high-level leaders really shared some of their frustrations about the lack of progress in the area of young worker safety.

This was powerful because experience has shown us that until people get passionate about seeing progress in any area of life, they will not see change. 

#3 - The media was present. I am convinced more than ever that if society's attitude is ever going to change about occupational health and safety, the HUGE spotlight of the media is going to have to light up this issue. I was pleasantly surprised that on a day with so many things happening in the province and country (stock market crashing, federal election approaching), that many media outlets took the time to hear and report on the issues related to young workers and workplace safety, including Yahoo! News Canada.

My hat's off to Steelcase for taking the corporate lead on this initiative, adding a much needed business-world edge to another worthy government initiative!